Jurij Maksimov
Fisheries Research Laboratory, Klaipeda, Lithuania

Key words: Curonian Lagoon, twaite shad.

Abstract.
Twaite shad became increasingly common in the Curonian Lagoon in the late 1990s. The lack of access to traditional spawning grounds meant that this species began reproducing in the estuary of the Nemen River and the shallow waters of the Curonian Lagoon. Due to the ban on twaite shad catches and landings, fishermen discard catches and they decompose contributing to an increase in pollution in the fishing grounds.