Bream invading Danish waters

Tasty southern fish heading north in greater numbers than ever before

Nov 7, 2014

Bream, a tasty fish that is increasingly finding its way onto Danish plates under the name ‘guldbrasen’, is turning up more and more in Danish seas.

Common in the Mediterranean, bream is mostly imported into the country from Turkish, Greek and Italian fishermen. But in the near future, it might start arriving via the fisherman's net.

Henrik Carl from the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen and website fiskeatlas.dk said that an unprecedented number of sea bream have been found in Danish waters this autumn.

A gang of 12
Even though only 12 have been found so far, Carl still considers that number an “invasion”.

“Bream is incredibly rare in Danish waters,” Carl told DR Nyheder. “Until this year it had only been seen eleven times since 1973.”

Carl said the unusually warm late summer and autumn weather, coupled with a large inflow of saline into Danish waters in August, contributed to the spike in bream sightings this year. He also said there was no reason to believe the numbers will continue to increase next year.

“This invasion has nothing to do with what might happen next year,” said Carl.

Could become a threat
The fish found this year are all between 15-17 centimetres long and estimated to be a few years old.

Should bream ever become truly numerous in Danish waters, it could become a threat to native fish species. In the right environment, the fish can grow up to 70 centimetres long and eat shellfish like crayfish and mussels, which it crushes with its strong teeth.

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