Data for: Higher abundance of adult pike in Baltic Sea coastal areas adjacent to restored wetlands compared to reference bays

The abundance of pike, a keystone top-predator, has declined dramatically in the Baltic Sea since the 1990s likely owing to recruitment failure. It has been proposed that wetland restoration can aid the recovery of the pike stock by increasing the number of recruits produced by anadromous populations. Yet, no previous studies have addressed whether wetland restorations are associated with higher abundances of adult pike in the coastal habitat. To address this, we performed standardised rod-and-reel survey fishing in paired bays with and without wetlands across three coastal areas and three years. To estimate dispersal and the contribution of wetland pike to the coastal stock, we tagged captured pike with passive integrated responders (PIT) and employed PIT-reader stations in wetland inlets. The results showed that pike abundances were on average 90% higher in bays with an adjacent wetland although the effect varied among areas. Moreover, PIT-data uncovered that wetland pike constituted ..., Combination of standardized rod-and-reel survey fishing and mark-recapture.,