Swedish Board of Fisheries scientists are eagerly fishing for a Black Sea invader that has already conquered Poland, posing a threat to ecosystem balance, however eatable, preferably pickled.
The Round Goby (Neogobius elanostomus), originally swimming the bottoms of the Black and Caspian Seas, was first discovered off Gdansk on Poland’s Baltic coast in 1990, but has now grown so common there that it threatens marine diversity.
“It is very flexible, more durable than most, and spreads very fast”, says Ann-Britt Florin, a Board of Fisheries marine biologist and member of a group that use nets with very small meshes to catch the invasive species off Karlshamn in the southeast and Nynäshamn just south of Stockholm.
The first round goby in Swedish waters was caught near the naval port of Karlskrona near Karlshamn two years ago.
On the positive side, the Neogobius elanostomus is favoured food for some predator fish and seabirds, not the least herons, and Polish anglers have found it a nice pickled alternative to anchovy and sardines.