An adult houting was spotted in the Scheldt in Kruibeke, East Flanders, on Tuesday, which is rare, as the salmon-like fish was for long considered extinct in the region.
The last sighting of a houting dates from about a decade ago. Before that, it had been 100 years since the fish had been spotted.
The species lives in the North Sea and travels inland into the Scheldt with the tide. The sighting indicates that it has once again found a suitable habitat in Belgium.
It is a boost that the houting has been seen in the flood plain around Kruibeke and Rupelmonde. "It is not easy to get in or out of there," said Jeroen Van Wichelen of the Institute for Nature and Forest Research (Inbo). "But it apparently finds a good rearing area there." Whether the fish is able to spawn there remains to be investigated.
A houting once again swimming around in the Scheldt also shows that water quality has greatly improved.
"Twenty years ago, it was a dead area," Van Wichelen said. "Since then, the water quality has improved dramatically. You also notice that by the return of other fish species such as the shad."
The houting found on Tuesday was caught and released back into the water after the necessary measurements. Van Wichelen hopes there will be more sightings in the future.
