Fishing industry in Switzerland

Fish have been an important part of the Swiss diet since at least the Middle Ages; by the late 17th century catches in Lake Geneva were being strictly regulated.

Today the cantons are the primary fishing regulators, with federal law setting the guiding principles; the large lakes that Switzerland shares with its neighboring countries are managed by international commissions.

Sealed amphorae found at Aventicum contained garum, a popular condiment of the times made from spices and marine fish, and allec, a paste used as a precursor.

By the Middle Ages, the Swiss had also begun importing herring, dried sole and other stockfish caught in the Baltic Sea from those cities in what is now Germany.

In 1312 France's King Philip IV decreed that all nets used to take fish on the lake had to have a minimum mesh size of 25.5 mm (1 inch), the width of a silver tornesel coin.

[4]: 189 [c][5] The fish on Nyon's coat of arms dates to this time as well; the blue and red background represents its passage from the cold lake water to the hot kitchen.

By the late medieval period, cities had also gained control over fishing rights in waters beyond their immediate vicinity in order to keep them clear for navigation.

Authorities on all jurisdictions in the lakes basin limited the use of fyke nets to the days between March 15 and June 15 annually, to allow certain species to replenish themselves.

[4]: 189 [h] Once fishermen had accumulated a catch worth taking to market, the rules required they first sell them in the city they worked from, in order to ensure a steady and affordable supply of fish for public consumption.

[2][n] In 1893, the German states of Baden, Württemberg (now merged) and Bavaria signed the Bregenz Agreement with Switzerland and Austria, the first regulatory framework covering the entire lake.

Another North American transplant, catfish, was introduced at the end of the century by a Geneva city councilor who had found it delicious on a trip to Canada.

[5][p] Two years later Vaud joined with the neighboring cantons of Geneva and Valais to regulate fishing in the Swiss portion of the lake, under the same general terms as the 1904 agreement with France.

Fears that this growth could lead to overfishing were met with restrictions on newer, stronger nets used for bottom fishing and, in the middle of the century, a cap on the number of licenses issued by the cantons, in favor of full-time fishermen with the best training and equipment.

While it had always been taken and eaten, a fisherman who put some of the perch in his catch through an industrial potato peeler found that it neatly removed the fish's scales and skin, leaving behind two boneless filets ready for preparation and cooking; local restaurants came up with their own recipes, and by the end of the century demand for perch filets had grown to the point where most had to be imported.

[13] In addition to the low phosphate counts in the water, they and their organizations also faulted the cantons for not meeting their legal obligations, and the effects of increased use of hydroelectric power, since it interfered with fish's ability to spawn in some streams.

[18] To replace the reactors, which in the 2000s accounted for slightly more than a third of Switzerland's generating capacity, while addressing climate change, the government intends to rely more on renewable energy, particularly hydroelectric.

[14] According to CIPEL, only three percent of the lake's shoreline is in its original natural state of coastal marsh, where fish can breed with less fear of bird attacks.

[23] Swiss law currently requires the cantons to take actions to restore all watercourses and waterbodies to as close to their natural state as possible by the end of the century; the federal government has set aside CHF 40 million in its budget each year to help them reach this goal.

[24] Some of this decline is due to government policy of letting licenses expire once the fishermen who hold them retire, instead of granting them to another entrant, in order to prevent overfishing.

This includes 16 of the country's 17 largest lakes, all those more than 10 square kilometres (3.9 sq mi) in area except the Sihlsee reservoir in the canton of Schwyz.

[30] Swiss fishermen ply the lakes in small, open boats with outboard motors and space for nets, traps and coolers in the back.

Until the mid-19th century most anglers fished for food and some additional income; only with industrialization did angling become primarily a recreational activity, first in the rivers, then the lakes.

[32] It is estimated as of 2008 that 275,000 people total fish the country's streams and lakes recreationally every year, generating CHF 46.6 million in annual revenue on tackle.

[35][ag] In 2008, as part of a larger animal welfare bill, the Swiss Federal Assembly limited catch and release fishing; the law took effect the following year.

It is often represented as an outright ban;[33] in fact, anglers are allowed to release fish they catch as long as they: Fish may not be released at all if they are of a species not native to Swiss waters, such as rainbow trout, or are within legal size for their species and are in a habitat where cantonal regulations declare their natural reproduction to be impossible and are therefore stocked (such as most of the country's mountain lakes).

[36] Anglers whose license terms are a month or more in length are required to take a two-day class in angling knowledge, including these methods of killing fish.

[2][aj] A small commercial pisciculture industry developed during the 20th century, concentrating on raising rainbow and brook trout, all for the domestic market.

A few farmers, in the western portion of the country, raised carp, which despite its historical cultivation is a difficult species to farm in Switzerland due to its preference for water temperatures that cannot be easily maintained in the earthen ponds used.

Swiss fishermen joined their German colleagues in vehement opposition to the project, staging a 100-boat flotilla on the lake one weekend as a protest.

They were concerned about not only the pollution that might occur but the possible spread of disease from farmed fish to the wild population their livelihood depends on, no matter what assurances the cooperative made about being able to prevent that.