Recreational Fishing 2008

In 2008, there were about 1.8 million recreational fishermen in about one million households in Finland. Nearly 230 000 fishermen participated in fishing only by rowing or steering boat. The proportion of recreational fishermen was 34 per cent. Forty-four per cent of men and 24 per cent of women engaged in fishing. Fishing was the most, or almost the most, important hobby for 82 000 fi shermen. The number of fishermen has slightly decreased from about two million person in 2000 to about 1.8 million person in 2008.

The most common tackle was the hook and line, which was used by 70 per cent of fishermen. The spinning rod was used by 41 per cent, the jig by 29 per cent, the fish trap, crayfish trap or trap net by 26 per cent and trolling gear and gill net by 23 per cent of fishermen.

The total catch amounted to 33 million kg, of which 76 per cent was taken in inland waters. Perch and pike made up over half of the catch. The crayfish catch was 5.9 million pieces. The proportion of signal crayfish catch was 74 per cent of the total catch. The estimate forcrayfish catch is very unreliable because crayfish catch is taken by only a few households and the catches have great variation.

Fifty-seven per cent of the total fish catch was taken with gill nets, fish traps and trap nets; 41 per cent was taken with rod and line.

The catch of half of the fi shing households did not exceed 9 kg (median). The average catch per fi shing household was 33 kg. Of the fi shing households, 11 % did not catch fi sh at all.

The value of the fish catch was EUR 54 million estimated according to the prices paid to professional fishermen. The value of crayfish catch was EUR 14 million estimated using prices collected from wholesalers. The catch values are rough estimates, because recreational fishermen rarely sell their catch. Most of the fish catch is used in fishermen’s own households or it is given free of charge to relatives and neighbours. Also the crayfish catch is used mostly in fishermen’s households or enterprises. One part of catch is selled for examble to restaurants, other households etc. Small crayfishes are also selled for stocking in lakes and rivers. Concerning grayfish the prices are collected from wholesalers, so the used prices present the most valuable part of catch.