Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea

Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present, Rossing, Booth and Zeller 85
BALTIC SEA FISHERIES CATCHES FOR FINLAND (1950-2007) 1
Peter Rossing, Sarah Bale, Sarah Harper and Dirk Zeller
Sea Around Us Project, Fisheries Centre
University of British Columbia, 2202 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4, Canada
p.rossing@fisheries.ubc.ca; s.bale@fisheries.ubc.ca; s.harper@fisheries.ubc.ca ;
s.booth@fisheries.ubc.ca; d.zeller@fisheries.ubc.ca
ABSTRACT
This study estimates total marine and brackish-water catches made by Finland in the Baltic Sea from
1950-2007. We used ICES electronic database landing statistics as the officially-reported data baseline,
and then added ‗adjustments‘ to reported landings (from various sources including the Finnish Game and
Fisheries Research Institute) as well as estimates of unreported landings, discards, and recreational
catches. The total of these components represents reconstructed total catches and provides a more
comprehensive view of the total exploitation of marine resources. We believe these estimates are
underestimates due to our conservative estimation procedures. ICES landing statistics report 4.5 million
tonnes of marine landings from 1950-2007, our reconstruction estimates the total catch to be 29% higher
(5.8 million tonnes). The majority of this discrepancy is due to unreported landings and discarding of
herring (Clupea harengus), while cod (Gadus morhua) catches are low compared to other Baltic countries.
Finland has recorded recreational fishing since 1953, although it is not known whether they submit
estimates of unreported landings or discards (other than seal-induced discards). In an effort to contribute
to better management of Baltic fish stocks and the Baltic Sea ecosystem, Finland could allocate more
resources towards decreasing the amount of unreported catches and discards.
INTRODUCTION
The Nordic Republic of Finland has borders with Sweden, Russia and Norway, and with Estonia to the
south across the Gulf of Finland (Figure 1). With a population of 5,329,000 and an area of 302,348 km 2
(Anon., 2009), Finland is the third least densely populated country in the European Union after Norway
and Iceland. Finland entered into a free trade agreement with the European Community (EC) in 1973,
before experiencing a significant economic recession in the early 1990s. Finland joined the European
Union (EU) in 1995, however, and has since developed into a highly-industrialized free-market economy
(Melender and Repo, 2006).
Finnish fisheries can be divided into five main sectors: 1) commercial marine; 2) commercial inland; 3)
recreational or subsistence in both inshore marine and inland lakes; 4) small-scale marine; and 5)
aquaculture. The recreational fishing sector is
relatively more important in Finland than in
other Scandinavian countries as about half of
marine landings are accounted for by
recreational fishers, when herring catches are
excluded (FAO, 2005). Aquaculture also
supplies a substantial portion of fish for human
consumption, particularly since the late 1980s
when the quality of the Baltic environment and
many fish stocks began to decline (Setälä et al.,
1998). Our paper, however, will address only
wild fisheries catches taken in marine and
brackish-water.
Table 1. Percent distribution (%) of Finland‘s reported
landings by ICES subdivision, by decade. Prior to the 1980s all
landings were reported from ICES division IIId.
Percentage of catch 1980s 1990s 2000s
ICES subdivision 24