Seafood Industry Contacts - Finland (+358)

Government Contacts & Information Resources for
Commercial Fishing, Seafood, Aquaculture, Marine & Oceans in Finland

Europêche - Association of national organisations of fishing enterprises in the European Union

European Association of Fish Producers’ Organisations (EAPO) - European Association of Fish Producers Organisations

European Commission - Fisheries - The Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) is the European Union's instrument for the management of fisheries and aquaculture. It was created to manage a common resource and to meet the obligation set in the original Treaties of the then European Community. Because fish are a natural and mobile resource they are considered as common property. In addition, the Treaties which created the Community stated that there should be a common policy in this area, that is, common rules adopted at EU level and implemented in all Member States.

Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile for Finland - aquatic species caught by country or area, by species items, by FAO major fishing areas, and year, for all commercial, industrial, recreational and subsistence purposes. The harvest from mariculture, aquaculture and other kinds of fish farming is also included.

Finnish Food Safety Authority - The operation of the Food Safety Authority Evira focuses on ensuring the safety of food, promoting the health and welfare of animals and providing the required preconditions for plant and animal production as well as plant health.

The Finnish Maritime Administration is the authority responsible for maritime safety, winter traffic assistance, fairway maintenance, VTS and pilotage, hydrographic charting and the provision of ferry services to the archipelago communities.

Statistics Finland - Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery - Statistics produced under this topic describe agriculture and horticulture, forests and forestry, fishing and game husbandry, and hunting. The statistics contain data on related production activities, prices, income, expenditure, assets and debts, as well as reserves and their use.

Ministry of Agriculture Finland - Finnish game and fish resources are used and managed and reindeer husbandry is practised within the limits allowed by the sustainable use of natural resources. Fisheries industry and hunting are adjusted to the fish and game populations, while the reindeer stock is regulated according to the carrying capacity of the pastures in Lapland. Leisure fishing and hunting are regulated through licences.

Ministry of Fisheries Finland - Finnish fisheries industry aims at sustainable fishery. Fisheries industry comprises fishing at sea and in inland waters, aquaculture, fish breeding and fish trade. The sector is of great economic and social importance especially in sparsely populated areas, where it may be hard to find alternative livelihoods. The development of the sector has been quite positive in recent years: production volumes have been stable and total employment has grown. However, there are differences between different parts of the fishery production chain so that the situation is much weaker in primary production.

Finnish Coregonid Stock Research and Fisheries Network - Finnish Coregonid Stock Research and Fisheries Network

Crayfish research programme
The programme is studying the ecology, biology and production of the indigenous noble crayfish (Astacus astacus) and the introduced signal crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus). The socioeconomic aspects of crayfishing are also being studied. Research results are needed to understand the effects of rapid growth of signal crayfish production and in the preservation of the noble crayfish stocks.

Aquaculture in Finland
The main aim of the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute's Aquaculture Unit is to maintain the genetic diversity of endangered indigenous Finnish fish populations through aquaculture when other conservation methods cannot ensure this. The Unit also develops and enhances preconditions for aquaculture as a livelihood. Whitefish eggs in incubation funnels

Aquaculture stations use the latest knowledge and methodology in maintaining the valuable native fish stocks. They rear broodstocks to produce high-quality fish eggs and fingerlings for cultivation. Other aquaculture products and customer services are being devised in order to improve recreational fishing develop aquaculture industry.

There are 12 indigenous species or morphs of fish in aquaculture, and of these, over 70 differentiated strains are in production. The aquaculture unit is also in charge of national selective breeding programme for rainbow trout and whitefish. A gene bank is used for storing the milt of the most important fish stocks.

Aquaculture stations are well equipped to carry out research and development projects in cooperation with scientific research organisations. Finnish fish farming know-how is utilized in many farming operations all over the world.

Federation of European Aquaculture Producers - The Federation of European Aquaculture Producers (FEAP) is an international organisation that is composed of the National Aquaculture Associations of European countries. The basic aims of the Federation are: * to develop and establish a common policy on questions relating to the production and the commercialisation of aquaculture species are reared professionally. * to make known to the appropriate authorities the common policies envisaged above.
 

Fish trade and processing industry
In 2003 there were about 240 fish processing companies in Finland. Fish was traded by about 100 wholesale businesses and 200 retail outlets. Fish processing and trade employ about 1,400 persons.

Most of the fish processing companies are small and usually they engage in some other business as well. About 70 per cent of the production is located on the west coast. Of the domestic fish Baltic herring and rainbow trout are the most significant as raw material, while mainly salmon, rainbow trout and herring is imported. In 2003 the processing industry used altogether 50 million kg of fish, of which 36 million kg was domestic.

Most of the fish wholesalers are also quite small and the sector is less concentrated than other food trade. Most of the fish is sold through the largest Finnish trade chains in the food sector.

According to the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, in 2004 the value of fish and fish product imports was 162.3 million euros and the value of exports was 10.8 million euros.

Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute - The Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute produces scientific and high-quality data about fisheries, game and reindeer for sustainable use of natural resources, and helps to maintain biodiversity through research and aquaculture.

General Information about Fish and Marine Life in Finland
About 100 fish species (98 teleosteans, 1 cartilaginous fish and 3 lampreys) were found to be living in Finnish waters.

Fifty-eight fish species can be considered to be native and resident. Annually, it is possible to find 67 bony fish and two lamprey species in Finnish waters. There are twenty-two marine fish species. More than one third of the species (24) have fresh and brackish water populations and also anadromous ones. The variable conditions (mainly temperature and salinity) have not made it easy for new species to naturalize into Finnish waters. The fish fauna was basically established about 4 000 years ago when the present Baltic Sea era started. Only four species were added to the species list during the last century but two new species were recognised in 2005. Fourteen new fish species have been imported and introduced into Finnish waters. Four of these species have naturalized, i.e. they have established reproductive and self-sustaining stocks after introductions into some water bodies, and four other species are maintained by repeated introductions, though there has been some reproduction success in a few exceptional cases.

Two lamprey species and 59 fish species are known to reproduce more or less every year in Finnish natural waters. One third of all species are either escapers or have been released from fish farms in neighbouring countries, or explorers that have migrated from the southern Baltic Sea or further away. Three species are extinct and anthropogenic changes affect fish fauna far more than all natural events. Dredging and damming of rivers have had the most significant impact on our fish stocks, mainly on anadromous species. At least 30 or maybe even as many as 47 salmon stocks have been lost and only six native stocks have survived. Similarly, only nine original sea trout stocks out of 62 rivers running from Finland to the Baltic Sea are viable. Acidification and eutrophication have also changed the structure of fish fauna in many water areas. Eleven species or their forms have been put into different classes of conservation depending on their vulnerability. Thirty-one fish species are considered to be commercially exploited. The estimated commercial and recreational fish catch in Finland annually is about 150 million kg. Scenarios on climate change and recent events predict significant changes in the structure of fish assemblages and the arrival of new fish species into Finland, e.g. it may be possible to catch the Chinese sleeper (Perccottus glenii) or some explorer species migrating from the South or East in the near future.

Important commercial fish species in Finland:
Baltic Herring
Sprat
Cod
Flounder
Salmon
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
Whitefish
Pike-Perch (Zander)
Perch
Pike
Vendace

The Charr Network - Through this site you will be able to investigate the research, the commercial exploitation and the natural history of the Arctic Charr / Char across the EU area