The Fisheries Local Action Group of Central Finland (Sisä-Suomen Kalaleader) was approved as a local fisheries action group in September 2015.
The Fisheries Action Group operates in the province of Keski-Suomi, the province of Päijät-Häme, and parts of the provinces of Kymenlaakso and Pirkanmaa. One can say that the group’s operating area covers the Kymijoki River basin, except for its lowermost parts. There are 33 municipalities in this area.
There are approximately 200,000 hectares of waterways where professional fishing can be practiced. Furthermore, the area provides good conditions for fish farming: the flow rate in the area’s waterways is high, which ensures sufficient water supply for fish farms.
Quality of the water in most of the local waterways is good or excellent. However, large lakes in the northernmost part of the area are either barren or somewhat lush. The largest lake in the area, Lake Päijänne, can be divided into a very poorly nutrified southern part and a slightly more nutrified northern part.
According to statistics, there are around 50–60 professional fishermen in the operating area of the Central Finland Fisheries Group. This figure refers to the number of registered fishermen. Around thirty of them are full-time professional fishermen. The number of professional fishermen has increased slightly in the past few years. However, their number threatens to decrease due to ageing. Around fifteen trawling collectives practice fishing in the operating area of the Central Finland Fisheries Group. The most important species fished are vendace (Coregonus albula), pikeperch (Zander lucioperca) and whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus). Fish farming is mainly practiced in the northern part of the area. It is the financially most important fishery trade in this area. There are large facilities that focus on breeding juvenile fish for stocking and a couple of facilities that produce fish for slaughter. The number of jobs in fish farming industry companies experiences seasonal fluctuation and varies between sixty and a hundred jobs.
There are excellent opportunities for fishing tourism and tourist fishing in the operating area of the Central Finland Fisheries Group, even though profitability of fishing tourism and the number of companies active in the industry are fairly minor but it seems to be increasing. Depending on how they are calculated, there are 10–30 jobs in this industry.
There are only a few significant active fish processing companies in the area, around 5–10 in Keski-Suomi and a few in Päijät-Häme.
There are several wholesale companies that sell fish in the area, but only one of them has an office in the area. Business of the companies that sell fish in the retail or wholesale market is made more difficult by the fact that the availability of fish fluctuates seasonally. The companies that sell fish in the retail or wholesale market employ around ten people total.
Their key strength are the pure waters and thus the excellent quality of the fish. The good water quality in the area and the sufficient water volume also guarantees good conditions for fish farming. This is partly why fish meant to be used as food or restocking fish are fairly healthy and free from any fish diseases. The area’s strengths also include excellent professional skills of the local fishermen and fish farmers. There are several professional fishermen who have invested in the development of fish processing and the quality of fish.
Strong and professional primary production creates a strong basis for the development of commerce and fish processing. The area is fairly close to several important market areas. At present, there are a couple of high-quality fish harbours in the area and couple of more smaller fish harbours. Partly due to these functional fish harbours, fish – particularly when delivered to be sold fresh – has a good reputation among consumers and stores.
The area’s weaknesses include poor basic production level of the lakes and thus smaller caches than from more nutrified waterways. This is why the fishermen need to work hard in some areas in order to catch enough fish to retain their income level. One of the area’s weaknesses in terms of fish farming in the water is the fact that there are not many places suitable for new fish farms. This has prevented some of the companies active in the area from increasing their production volume. Furthermore, the companies are not very willing to make investments.
Certain social factors and people finding the fishing industry a threat hinder the fishing industry in the area. The negative atmosphere may deteriorate the professional fishermen’s opportunities to utilise the water areas. In addition, obtaining fishing permits for some areas is difficult because of the fragmented ownership structure of the water areas. Many of the fishermen have to catch their fish in several different areas, which deteriorates the efficiency and profitability of the fishing companies. According to the Group’s vision, the area is known for its high-quality fish products, good production methods and highly functional logistics. Cooperation between all the parties included in the industry’s production chain – both between consulting and development organisations and between water area owners and the authorities – is seamless. Profitability of the industry has improved due to new production methods, improved logistics and increased processing degree. Profitable tourism fishing businesses active in the area work in close cooperation with local communities, other tourism sector companies in the area and the professional fishermen.
There are four themes that cover all of these policies: cooperation, sustainable fisheries, increasing the use of unutilized resources and adapting to climate change. Cross-cutting values are transparency and inclusion. The Central Finland`s Fisheries Strategy and the measures funded with the help of the strategy promote the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Whenever possible, other funding channels and programmes are used to fund the fisheries strategy measures. Furthermore, implementation of the programme requires extensive cooperation within the area. The cooperation focuses on parties active in the fishing industry, water area owners, research establishments and educational establishments, and business development companies and corporations active in the area.
Total funding of the Fisheries Group for the programme period 2021-2027 is 1,2 million euros, of which € 800,000 comes from the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund. Of the public programme funding, around 10% will be used in the administration of the Fisheries Group during the programme period, most of it municipal funding. Around 75% of the funding in compliance with the programme policies will be used for the programme measures and field activation measures.
The FLAG manager and coordinator are in charge of finding project ideas that can be developed and presenting them to the Fisheries Group division. Innovative projects and projects that improve competitiveness and vitality of the fishing industry will be given priority. Special attention will be paid in children and adolescents, because they are the future users of fish products and the future of the profession.
Official name: Fisheries Local Action Group Central Finland (Sisä-Suomen Kalaleader) Country: Finland Provinces: Keski-Suomi and Päijät-Häme provinces, Kouvola, Kuhmoinen and Pertunmaa municipalities Area: Central Finland Description of the area and its key challenges: Fishing takes place in an extensive area, mostly along the main route of the Kymijoki River. Fishing in this area is reasonably profitable. Fish farming is also an important source of livelihood with strong traditions in the area. Population centres (i.e. the cities of Lahti, Jyväskylä and Kouvola), as well as the fact that the Helsinki metropolitan region is not far away, guarantee a reasonably high and steady demand for fish products. A speciality of the area are strong signal crayfish populations. They offer opportunities but also pose challenges. The fish stock in many of the local lakes is not utilised to the fullest because people fish less than before. Four main fishery challenges in Inland Finland: 1) The size of the area poses challenges for logistics, for example. 2) There is not sufficient infrastructure to support fishery. More processing and production facilities and ice stations are needed, in particular. 3) Small fish species, signal crayfish and devalued fishes are not utilised to the fullest. 4) There are problems with the profitability of fish farming, which have been exacerbated by fish deaths due to unusually warm summers. Population: 571,650 Fishing industry jobs: 150–230 Surface area: 24,385 km2 Population density: 23 residents per km2 Inland/coastal area: Inland Main policies of the Fisheries Group: 1. INNOVATIONS AND SECURING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE FISHERIES SECTOR 2. ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS, PREPARING FOR CHANGE AND RESILIENCE 3. INCREASING THE VOLUME OF AQUATIC RAW MATERIALS AND THE VALUE OF FISHERIES PRODUCTION 4. MULTISOURCE FUNDING AND COOPERATION OF ACTORS OF EXPERTISE
