Information on huchen, Hucho hucho (L.), from historical Polish sources

Abstract This paper presents historical information on the Danube huchen, Hucho hucho (L.), in Polish sources from the sixteenth to early twentieth centuries in the Danube, Prut, Dniester, and Vistula river basins. These accounts concern the historical distribution of the species and its economic importance, culinary value, fishing methods, and artificial reproduction and propagation. The occurrence of huchen in the Dniester River basin until the beginning of the eighteenth century merits special interest, because this river is not mentioned by any modern source on the natural distribution of this species. The extinction of the huchen in this river can likely be attributed to anthropogenic changes in the environment that were associated mainly with agricultural development.