Cyprinid fish farms in Vojvodina (North Serbia): Two decades of changes

Fish farming in Serbia takes place in cyprinid (carp) and salmonid (trout) fish farms that together account for over 95% of the total fish produced. Cyprinids are grown in warm water fish farms, and cold water farms are designed for trout. The great majority (97%) of cyprinid fish farms are located in Vojvodina, Serbia?s northern province. This paper examines how the traditional carp sector was developed during the recent 20- year period in Vojvodina, paying particular attention to the comparison of the number and condition of cyprinid fish farms in that interval according to the available sources. The comparison was made by comparing maps with data on fishponds from 1999 and 2021, and according to the data from the Statistical Office of Serbia. After the analysis of many data from other authors and our study, it is evident that there is a lot of room for improving the production of cyprinid fish in Vojvodina. This is especially because we noticed decreasing trends for two major parameters: the area of fishpond water surfaces in Serbia (from 7,190 ha to 6,299 ha), and the number of ponds in Vojvodina (from 72 to 60), from 1999 to 2021, respectively. On the contrary, the amount of fish produced has increased from 2,409 t in 2002 to 4,761 t in 2021. According to government planning documents, Serbia lacks a national strategy for development of aquaculture production in general, and especially of cyprinid fish species.