Balkan Trout Restoration Group

The main interest of the group is focused toward the Balkan salmonids, which include several endemic taxa with important unresolved taxonomic problems and only little information on their distribution and conservation status.

The main research efforts of the group focus on genetic analysis of the involved taxa in order to study their phylogeography, population structure and hybridization. The ultimate aim of our research is to diagnose the taxa that exhibit their own evolutionary tendency and are so different from other taxa that they deserve a special attention in terms of their protection and conservation.

The group was established within the Department of Animal Science at the University of Ljubljana and extended collaboration to the Angling Club of Tolmin, Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia, international scientists, grassroots groups and concerned collaborators and anglers from the Balkans, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania as well as researchers from Austria, Sweden and Russia.

Patagonia, Inc. is a US based outdoor clothing and gear company, involved in several environment protection projects. After his trip to the Zeta River in Montenegro, artist, angler and world traveler James Prosek informed scientific community about the softmouth trout inhabiting several rivers in the area. Thanks to his initiative, Patagonia included softmouth trout in its World Trout Project and donated $15000 (first year) to our research team, $5 from the sale of each trout T-shirt, to support our research efforts. This website was originally created to inform Patagonia customers about softmouth trout and activities of our group. The website was later expanded to inform the public about other trout species in the Balkan Peninsula and to make the results of our genetic research more accessible to the scientific community.

Last update: July 29th, 2008