Commercial Marine Fishery 2007

In 2007, the catch by Finnish commercial fishermen in the marine area totalled 118 million kg. The bulk of the catch consisted of Baltic herring (89 million kg), followed by sprat (25 million kg). The next biggest catches were perch (0.9 million kg), cod (0.9 million kg) and European whitefish (0.7 million kg). The total catch was fifteen million kg bigger than that in the previous year.

The increase was greatest for Baltic herring, 9 million kg and sprat, six million kg. The catches of many of the species caught on the coast, e.g. European whitefish, perch, pikeperch, pike and burbot were down. Of the total catch, 92% was taken by trawl, 5% by trap net and 2% by gill net.

The producer value of commercial marine fishery in 2007 totalled EUR 25,2 million. Economically the most important species was Baltic herring (EUR 13,6 million). Other economically important species were sprat (EUR 3,6 million), European whitefish (EUR 2,1 million), cod (EUR 1,4 million), pikeperch (EUR 1,4 million), salmon (EUR 1,2 million and perch (EUR 1,0 million).

At the end of 2007, the register of professional fishermen contained the names of 2059 fishermen. A third of them, earned at least 30% of their income from fishing. The number of professional fishermen was highest in the areas of the fishery units of the employment and economic development centres (EEDCs) of Varsinais-Suomi and Ostrobothnia.

More information:

Pirkko Söderkultalahti
Fisheries Statistician
Finnish Game and Fisheries Reserach Institute
Viikinkaari 4
P.O.Box 2
FIN-00791 Helsinki, Finland
Tel. +358 205 751246
Telefax +358 205 751201
E-mail: firstname.lastname@rktl.fi

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