Need to reverse lack of interest in fishing

Baltic herring and sprat dominate Finnish catches. Recently however, sprat catches have been falling, while those of Baltic herring have been climbing.

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Finland, a country of some 5.5m people, has a per capita consumption of 14.6 kg well below the EU average of 22-23 kg. Domestic production of fish is modest – capture fisheries amounted to some 138,000 tonnes in 2013 and farmed fish to about 14,000 tonnes.

The Finnish coastline is 1,100 km long and the country has a fishing fleet of approximately 3,200 coastal vessels. About half of these are less than 6 m long, while the rest are between 6 and 12 m in length. The fishing vessels use mainly trap nets, nets, and trawls to catch different species, which they target in the waters around Finland: the southern Baltic, the Bothnian Sea, the Bothnian Bay, the Gulf of Finland, and the Archipelago. The majority of the catches were caught in the Bothnian Sea (76%) and the Archipelago (14%) to the south of the country.

Overall fish catches increase thanks to Baltic herring

The main species are the pelagic fish, herring and sprat, which together amount to over 90% of the total catch volume and 65% of the value. Other valuable species targeted by the fleet are vendace, pike perch, European whitefish and perch. Total marine catches have increased slightly over the four years to 2013 (the last year for which data are available) from 122 thousand tonnes to 138 thousand tonnes helped mainly by increased catches of Baltic herring. Catches of sprat, however, have fallen by more than half over the same period.

There are about 2,100 commercial fishers of which a quarter are full time fishermen, meaning they earned at least 30% of their income from fishing. This number is decreasing however. At the beginning of the 80s the number of fishers was approximately two and a half times what it is today. There are several reasons for this decline, but perhaps the main factor is the impact of seals, the grey seal and the ringed seal, which are a significant and increasing threat to the fishery. Seals affect the fishery in different ways, says Vesa Karttunen, president of Ahven, the Finnish fishermen’s association, an advisory body for the fisheries sector. They scare the fish, they damage the gear so that the fish can escape, and of course they also eat the fish. In some areas along the coast the seals have made it impossible to fish, for example, with gill nets. The grey seal population has been increasing for the last 30 years and today the number of mature individuals is estimated to be around 10,000 animals. In Finland the grey seal is considered a game animal, which can be hunted with a license. There are conservation areas where hunting is prohibited and where fishing is only permitted with gear that does not harm the seals. The ringed seal too is considered a game animal, but hunting permits have not been issued since 1988. The population is also estimated at about 10,000 animals. Hunting seals is difficult because they are clever animals, but mainly the economics of hunting seals is uncertain, because it is increasingly difficult to trade in seal fur and other seal products.

Vesa Karttunen, Finnish Fishermen´s Association

In an attempt to tackle the menace of seals fishers have invested a lot of money in seal-proof gear, a Swedish invention that makes trap nets less vulnerable to seals. While the seals cannot damage the gear they still manage to get hold of the fish, eating some and injuring others, and reducing the value of the catch.

Several factors reduce interest in fishing as occupation

Seals, although an important reason for the decline in the number of fishermen, are not the only one. When Finland joined the EU in 1995 the price of fish and with it the profitability of fishing reduced significantly and it is only in the last five years or so that the price of fish has been satisfactory, so that fishermen can get a good price for their catch – if the seals let them fish. Another factor that has affected the fishermen is the ownership of the water in which they fish. In Finland stretches of water are privately owned, a characteristic which is different from most other countries. The private ownership of water areas goes back to the time when Finland was part of Sweden and today there are three types of private owners of water, individuals, groups of private real estate owners, and the state. A fisherman who wants to fish in privately owned water has to seek permission from the owner and if there are several owners then approval has to be sought from each of them, and it is not always easy to get this as the owners may simply not want commercial fishermen operating in their waters. There are some areas which are not under private ownership, but they tend to have large numbers of seals. Despite these issues, fish catches in Finland are currently at their highest level ever. However, cautions Mr Karttunen, the overall increase in catches is primarily due to larger volumes of herring, a species which is caught by the big trawlers rather than the coastal fishermen. Catches of the species that the coastal fishers target, including perch, pikeperch, salmon, European whitefish, vendace etc., are broadly stable though since 2008 there has been a slightly increasing trend.

Another factor behind the falling number of fishermen has been the lack of young fishers joining the profession. Fishing is a demanding and not very well-paid job and when there are more attractive opportunities most young people opt for these. Today the average age of a fisherman is 51 years and it is increasing all the time. There are schemes to try and attract young people to the business, by offering more apprenticeships and courses at schools where young people can learn about the profession, but while this has brought in some youngsters, the number is insufficient to stop let alone reverse the overall trend.

Vesa Karttunen, Finnish Fishermen´s Association

Pelagic fish of limited interest for coastal fishers

The coastal salmon fishery is managed with quotas, while for sprat and herring a part of the quota is reserved for the coastal fishery who target these species, but the quota has never been a problem, says Mr Karttunen. Quota limitations affect only the big trawlers. For coastal fishers who want to fish
herring or sprat there will always be enough quota. But the price for these species is so low that hardly any coastal fishers fish them. It is far more attractive to catch perch, pikeperch, whitefish, as the prices are much higher.

Catches in the freshwater fishery amount to about 5,000 tonnes per year and the species caught are more or less the same as those caught by the coastal fishery. The Baltic Sea is not very salty and most species can be found both in the sea and in freshwater. Perhaps the most important species for the freshwater fishery is vendace (Coregonus albula) both in terms of value and volume. Other species targeted are perch, pikeperch, pike, and whitefish. The number of full time professional inland fishermen has remained stable at about 250 for the last couple of decades. The inland fishery is mostly in privately owned waters. In the middle of some of the biggest lakes there are areas which are public, but they make only a small contribution to the fishery. Fishermen have to get permission from the water owners to fish, which is one of the biggest problems they face. Fishing with inland trawls for example needs to be done over a large area and a fisherman may have to seek multiple permissions in order to fish. However, from 2016 there will be a new fishing law in Finland which will try and simplify this procedure so that, over time, it will get easier to get fishing permission. Several fishermen have themselves bought shares in private waters, which may also make it a little easier to get permission to fish. The permissions are also a way of managing the fishery as they determine the fishing effort and can restrict, for example, the number of fishing days, the areas that may be fished, or the types of gear that are used. Typically the inland water fishery uses inland trawls in summer and seine nets in winter.

The markets for the fish from the offshore fishery as well as the coastal and inland fisheries are quite different. A third of the herring and sprat caught by the offshore trawlers was sold to Russia until imports from the EU were banned in the middle of last year. Another part is made into fishmeal and most of the rest is used as fodder for mink. It is only a very small proportion of this pelagic fish that goes for human consumption today. The fish from the coastal and inland fishery, on the other hand, is sold primarily on the domestic market. The retail sector absorbs the bulk of the volumes, but fishermen also sell their catches directly at local markets in summer, when many consumers are in their summer cottages.

Large, sea-raised trout dominate aquaculture production

In addition to the capture production Finland also has a fish farming industry cultivating primarily rainbow trout and whitefish with minor quantities of other food fish species. Rainbow trout is raised both in sea cages and in freshwater and total production in 2013 amounted to about 13,000 tonnes, of which 12,000 tonnes was fish raised in the sea. These fish are large with an average weight of 2 kg and they are cultured largely on the west coast in the archipelago. As in other countries with a fish farming industry attempts are being made to move the production offshore, but conditions in the Baltic make it difficult. Anu-Maria Sandelin, managing director of the Finnish Fish Farmer’s Association, says that the roughness of the sea, the fact that it freezes in winter, and feeding issues (should it be with a feed barge or by boat) all make it difficult to move the cages offshore. However, maritime spatial planning legislation has enabled Finland to identify sites that would be suitable for aquaculture, allowing the industry to produce more fish, and at the same time avoid conflicts with other users of the coast.

The industry comprises some 300 companies (2013) divided into small (50%), medium (40%), and large companies (10%). The preponderance of small companies, which can also vary considerably in size makes for a relatively small average annual production per company of 60 tonnes. In comparison the average production in Sweden is 400 tonnes and in Norway it is 900 tonnes. However, a large part of the Swedish production is actually done by Finnish companies. Companies are predominantly farming fish for human consumption, but a number concentrate on the production of fry, which are used both for restocking and for rearing for human consumption. Within Finland companies are working on reducing the environmental impact of farming. It has improved considerably, says Ms Sandelin, compared to when we started in the mid-seventies. A large part of this is due to improvements in the feed. Nutrient release is much lower than it was and is still getting better. The strict control on emissions is one of the main reasons for stagnation in the European aquaculture industry, feels Ms Sandelin. If the industry cannot increase the level of nutrients it cannot increase production. She also thinks the restrictions somewhat unfair, as fish have a lower food conversion ratio (the number of kilos of feed needed to produce a kilo of meat) than terrestrially farmed animals and production ought to be encouraged. Despite these restrictions the Finnish aquaculture strategy envisages an increase in production to 20,000 tonnes by the year 2020.

Anu-Maria Sandelin, Finnish Fish Farmers´Association

Processed products based mostly on domestic fish

The processing industry in Finland uses both domestically caught fish as well as imports as raw material. The volumes of fish used by the processing industry has been steadily increasing over the years and amounts to about 80 thousand tonnes of which the domestic component is about twice that of the imports. Sprat and herring form the bulk of domestic catches and volumes are far higher than can be locally consumed. As a result a significant proportion is frozen whole round into blocks and exported. Of the domestic production used for fish processing, the most important species in terms of the volumes used are Baltic herring and sprat followed by rainbow trout. Together they account for 92% of the total volume of domestically caught fish that is used for fish processing. Products created from this fish are either frozen or fresh. The pelagic species are typically block frozen (about 88%), while the remainder is sold fresh. About 80% of the rainbow trout is made into fillets either fresh or frozen. Imported raw material for the processing industry is dominated by salmon (about 90%), while some 7% of the fish imported for processing is Atlantic herring. There some 130 companies processing fish and seafood in Finland of which a third produce less than 10 tonnes annually.

As in other parts of Europe, Finland’s fisheries and aquaculture sector is facing challenges, but appears to be heading in the right direction at least in terms of volumes produced. If production does increase it may also result in more enthusiastic consumption of fish among the Finnish people bringing them closer to the EU average.