The commercial coregonid fishery in northernmost Finland — a review

In northernmost Finland, in lake Inari (1100 km2) and the reservoirs, Lokka and Porttipahta (total 630 km2), commercial fishing is significant for its economical and social aspects. Local European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) is the most important catch species. Two new coregonids were introduced...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales zoologici fennici 2004, Vol.41 (1), p.351-355
Main Authors: Salonen, Erno, Mutenia, Ahti
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Commercial fishing
Commercials
Coregonus albula
Coregonus lavaretus
Coregonus peled
Fisheries
Fisheries science
Fishers
Fishery economics
Fishing and fisheries management
Freshwater
Freshwater fishes
Lakes
Natural reservoirs
Whitefish
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Summary:In northernmost Finland, in lake Inari (1100 km2) and the reservoirs, Lokka and Porttipahta (total 630 km2), commercial fishing is significant for its economical and social aspects. Local European whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) is the most important catch species. Two new coregonids were introduced: vendace (Coregonus albula) in the Inari area in the 1950s, and peled (Coregonus peled) into the reservoirs in the 1970s. Later these species have naturally succeeded in reproduction. In lake Inari, the commercial fishery originated in the 1930s and in the reservoirs in the 1980s. Essential for the development of the commercial fishery was the modern infrastructure, established in the 1980s, when the stocks of vendace and peled became dense. The commercial fishery took up trap netting and trawling, in addition to gillnetting. The number of commercial fishermen increased and the commercial coregonid catches peaked at 350 tonnes in both areas. After the collapse of the vendace and peled stocks, European whitefish has maintained the commercial fishery. Today, in all about 50 commercial fishermen supply the market with high-quality coregonids.
ISSN:0003-455X
1797-2450