Marine fishery catch on wane

The total catch of commercial marine fishery in 2021 was 94 million kilograms, being 18 million kilograms lower than in the year before, according to by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke).

The total catch was mainly Baltic herring and sprat. Gillnets and trap nets were primarily used in coastal fishing.

The catch of most species fished in coastal areas was also smaller than on average in the 2000s.

According to provisional statistics, Baltic herring catch totalled 74 million kilos in 2021, being 19 million kilos lower than in 2020.

The total catch of sprat, caught in conjunction with the fishery targeted at Baltic herring, increased by two million kilos to 15 million kilos. More than half of the sprat catch and 15 per cent of the Baltic herring catch were landed at ports in Estonia and Sweden.

Only half of the Baltic herring quota was utilised in the Gulf of Bothnia.

“The Baltic herring and sprat catches, primarily caught from the open sea by trawlers, made up 94 per cent of the total commercial marine catch. Baltic herring and sprat fishing was very concentrated, with seven trawlers of roughly 30–40 metres in length accounting for more than half of the total catch. In total, Baltic herring and sprat were caught by 35 trawlers and 220 gillnet or trap vessels. The bulk of the Baltic herring catch was fished from the Bothnian Sea, while sprat was mainly caught from the Archipelago Sea,” said Pirkko Söderkultalahti, senior statistician at Luke.

Baltic herring, sprat, cod and salmon catches are regulated by annually agreed international catch quotas, the goal of which is to ensure the sustainable use of fish stocks.

In Finland, a quota for Baltic herring has been set for two management areas. Of the quota set for the Gulf of Bothnia, 55 per cent was harvested in 2021, while the corresponding figure was 93 per cent in the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Proper.

A large part of the quota set for the Gulf of Bothnia remained unutilised because the catch quota was exceptionally increased during summer from 53 to 102 million kilos.

The sprat quota was fully utilised. Three quarters of the salmon quota were harvested, totalling a little more than 26,000 fish. The status of the cod populations in the Baltic Sea is very poor, and quotas have been reduced significantly in recent years. Only ten years ago, Finland’s total cod catch was more than one million kilos, while last year’s catch was down to a few per cent of the volume, totalling 35 tonnes.

“The majority of commercial fishermen fished with gillnets or traps in coastal areas. The most common species in coastal fishing was perch, caught by more than 800 commercial fishermen,” Söderkultalahti said.

The perch catch increased from 2020, while being slightly below the average of the 2000s. In coastal fishing, it was followed by European whitefish, pike, pikeperch, bream, roach, burbot, trout, smelt, Baltic herring, ide and salmon. Compared with average catches in the 2000s, the smelt and vendace catches were higher in 2020.

The pikeperch and European whitefish catches were half of the average catches in the 2000s, while the trout catch remained at a quarter of the average. Also the salmon, burbot and pike catches were lower than the average.

“The decrease in catches can be explained, for example, by decreases in fishing efforts. The number of active fishermen has more than halved from over 2,100 fishermen during the past ten years,” Söderkultalahti added.