Professional fishermen, however, are reporting the opposite – that they are seeing dwindling catches beyond the river mouth, in Pärnu Bay.

The number of amateur anglers congregating at the river's mouth, has grown significantly in recent times, with many reporting successful pike-perch catches.

One, Rainer, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "Six to seven fish are in the bucket, so there are a lot of fish in the river right now. It seems that the state of the fish stocks have improved here anyway."

Another, Erkki, said: "The last few years feel as though this place has been coming up a lot."

"It's a beautiful spot in the river, so it's hard to find a small spot here."

However, by contrast, commercial fishermen have struggled to catch pike-perch in Pärnu Bay, with catches now limited to winter due to restrictions during spawning seasons.

One, Madis Merirand, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "The change in yields are drastic."

"We don't fish for pike-perch nowadays, plus we don't go out of our way to do so, so that the quantities that get caught in the winter are marketed in other channels, and kilos of them aren't reaching the sector," Merirand went on.

The Ministry of Agriculture noted the reason why there are more fish in the river now than before is unclear, though fishing restrictions may have contributed.

Fisheries policy adviser at the Ministry of Agriculture Kaire Märtin said it was not clear what the main factors were yet. "Is it really a case of a reallocation of stock; have more fish gone to the lower reaches of the Pärnu River, or has there actually been an improvement in the stock?" she said.

Some fishermen speculate that changes including the removal of the Sindi dam may have contributed to the abundance in the river, while at the same time dredging near the harbor has reduced fish in the bay, though these claims do not have any empirical data to back them at present.

Maritime Institute departmental head of fish biology Redik Eschbaum pointed to restrictions having improved the situation too.

He told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "There are more of them in the sea now and I think that has heightened the abundance of the pike perch, which in turn has increased the abundance of them in the Pärnu River."

Advances in fishing tech have also improved success rates for amateurs, though there is no concrete data showing they are catching significantly more than professionals either.

Eschbaum said: "Recreational fishing methods have improved. Recreational fishermen now have new gadgets like live sonar, so it's very easy for them to find fish."

However, the ministry says there is currently no data to confirm that recreational anglers are fishing significantly more than before or more than professional fishers had been.

"At present, information is a little bit too scant to draw any conclusions from, but one thing that we have thought about, and that scientists have also recommended earlier, is that trawling, or dredging the seabed by boat, is something that we are planning to restrict or even ban in Pärnu Bay next year," Kaire Märtin at the agricultural ministry added.

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