It is an increasingly warmer water that mainly benefits the pike.
Pike thrive and hunt better when the water temperature is high.
The trout is knocked out
In a third of the approximately 9,000 lakes where pike, according to researchers at Umeå University, are expected to establish themselves, it will have dramatic consequences.
The natural trout will be wiped out.
- Ecosystems will change in these lakes, from being a trout-dominated system to being dominated by pike and often perch, says Göran Englund, researcher at Umeå University.
Happening already now
This development is already happening now, he states.
- Above all, we see that cold lakes that have had very little pike suddenly start to get large amounts of pike.
Climate relat
The reports that the pike have started to gain ground came as early as the beginning of the 2000s and today it is a reality.
The background is climate-related, according to the researchers.
- This is because we are getting an increasingly warmer climate, says Göran Englund, who believes that a slowdown in climate development is the only thing that could reverse this trend.
See more about the pike invasion in the video above.
Go in depth - SVT's survey of fish stocks:
Check which fish species are in the lake where you live
Test your skills in "guessing the fish"
This is how the fish stock has developed in Sweden over the past 40 years