Amateur fishermen call for protection of Baltic salmon
Increased fishing at sea depletes stocks of migratory fish
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More than 17,000 names have been collected on a petition calling for better protection of salmon in the Baltic Sea.
The petition, promoted by Finnish amateur fishermen, the tourist industry, as well as regional authorities in Kainuu and Finnish Lapland, denounces the "haphazard" salmon policy of the Finnish government, and calls for the restoration of stricter time limits on commercial fishing of salmon at sea. There is also a call for special legislation to secure the future of salmon and sea trout populations.
The petition is to be submitted to government ministers in Helsinki in mid-February.
Antti Sorro, vice chairman of the Amateur Fishermen’s Association of Finnish Lapland, feels that it is high time to take action to save the Baltic salmon. He says that stocks in the Baltic have been reduced by half in ten years.
The main reason for the decline is the failure of attempts to artificially introduce young salmon directly into the sea.
"For some reason, most of the hatched fish die in the sea before growing big enough to catch", Sorro says.
As fish stocks have declined, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has allowed professional fishing of salmon at sea earlier with each successive year.
"If nothing is done, catching salmon at sea will begin next summer 19 days earlier than in 1996 and 1997. The situation is certainly very serious."
Earlier fishing at sea takes a heavy toll on female salmon en route to their river spawning grounds.
Researchers say that the failure of attempts to artificially stock the sea with young fish means that most of the salmon in the Baltic are the result of natural spawning.
The most important spawning grounds are the Kalix and Tornio-Muonio rivers in the far north. To get there, salmon need to pass through dozens of fishing areas.
"Ten years ago it was estimated that half of the salmon had managed to pass through the fishing zones before sea fishing began. Now that the start of fishing has been brought forward by more than two weeks, the schools of female fish are subject to murder", Sorro complains.
The depletion of the stocks is also apparent in the catches of the professional fishermen. Last year they managed to catch only 40 per cent of their quota.
The amateur fishermen are demanding that the next government pass a special law on migratory fish to secure the salmon stocks as a valuable natural resource. They also want to declare tourist fishing in sea and river areas an equally important means of livelihood, alongside professional fishing.
"No legal protection has been given to fish in Finland. Other game animals have such protection."
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 30.1.2007 - TODAY |
 Amateur fishermen call for protection of Baltic salmon
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