Longitudinal patterns of fish assemblages in the Mosoni-Danube, Hungary

The Danube and its sidearm system including the Mosoni-Danube play a significant role in the environmental development concept of the Szigetköz region. The state of the river habitats influences the region’s economy, in particular: tourism, agriculture, flood protection, environmental protection and water resource protection. Improvement of the ecological status of the whole Szigetköz region became more and more the determined aim in the regulatory efforts of the water management (BERCZIK & GUTI 2003). Problems caused by the state of the river habitats require a complex solution, therefore a hydro-ecological research project (ECONTACT) was established by the North Transdanubian Environment Protection and Water Directorate in 2004. Its main object was to analyse the habitats of the heavily modified Mosoni-Danube according to the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) for development of management plans of habitat rehabilitations.