Recreational Fishing 2010

In 2010, there were about 1.7 million recreational fishermen in about one million households in Finland. Nearly 200 000 fishermen participated in fishing only by rowing or steering boat. The proportion of recreational fishermen was 32 per cent. Forty-two per cent of men and 21 per cent of women engaged in fishing. Fishing was the most, or almost the most, important hobby for nearly 50 000 fishermen. The number of fishermen has decreased from about two million person in 2000 to about 1.7 million person in 2010.

The most common tackle was the hook and line, which was used by 68 per cent of fishermen. The spinning rod was used by 41 per cent, the jig by 28 per cent, the fish trap, crayfish trap or trap net by 26 per cent, the gill net by 25 per cent and trolling gear by 21 per cent of fishermen.

The total catch amounted to 29 million kg, of which over 80 per cent was taken in inland waters. Perch and pike made up over half of the catch. The crayfish catch was 4.6 million pieces. The proportion of signal crayfish catch was over 80 per cent of the total catch. The estimate for crayfish catch is very unreliable because crayfish catch is taken by only a few households and the catches have great variation.

Fifty-five per cent of the total fish catch was taken with gill nets, fish traps and trap nets; 42 per cent was taken with rod and line.

The catch of half of the fishing households did not exceed 7 kg (median). The average catch per fishing household was 29 kg. Of the fishing households, 13 % did not catch fish at all.

The value of the fish catch was EUR 56 million estimated according to the prices paid to professional fishermen. The value of crayfish catch was EUR 11 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.