ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND CONFLICT WITH OTHER WATER USES

The interests of inland fisheries are supported at state level by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, and Metsähallitus (state-owned waters). The major national associations for recreational fishers (Finnish Federation for Recreational Fishing and

Federation of Finnish Fisheries Associations), commercial fishers (Finnish Fishers’

Association, Finnish Inland Fishers’ Association) or for the whole industry (Pro Fish Association) have an important role in promoting the interests of inland fisheries.

Nature conservation associations (WWF Finland, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, Natur och Miljö) can, for example, campaign for the sustainable use of local inland fish stocks while the research institute (Natural Resources Institute Finland) provides the scientific knowledge. There are also many regional associations working on local environmental issues, mainly on water quality, but also on improving fish production, connectivity and knowledge about the importance of inland fisheries.

These can be relatively large associations paid by stakeholders (industry, communes) or smaller, more on a voluntary basis.

Many other water uses (hydropower, industrial and community wastewaters, agriculture diffuse loading) conflict with the interests of inland fisheries. The water protection legislation in Finland is supervised by the Ministry of the Environment. The water protection legislation and environmental conservation legislation can be found on the pages of the Ministry of the Environment: https://www.ym.fi/en-US/Nature/

TABLE 2

Catch sizes and closed seasons. Restrictions on quantity or size of fish and on fishing activity when spawning in Finland

Species Closed seasons Catch sizes/quotas

Trout with adipose fin Fully protected in all marine areas.

Fully protected in inland waters south of latitude 64 00´N. Not applicable to trout caught from brooks or ponds with no migratory connection from the sea or a lake.

Rivers and brooks 1 Sept to 30 Nov

Minimum 50 cm in waters north of latitude 67 00´N.

Minimum 60 cm in other areas where fishing is permitted.

Maximum 45 cm in brooks or ponds with no migratory connection from the sea or a lake.

Adipose fin-clipped trout Rivers and brooks 1 Sept to 30 Nov Minimum 50 cm

Salmon Rivers and brooks 1 Sept to 30 Nov Minimum 60 cm, in Bay of Bothnia

north of latitude 63°30´N 50 cm Quota for recreational fishing 2 salmon/day/person.

Adipose fin-clipped salmon Minimum 60 cm, in Bay of Bothnia

north of latitude 63°30´N 50 cm Landlocked salmon with adipose fin Fully protected in the Vuoksi and

Hiitolanjoki river basins rivers and brooks 1 Aug to 30 Nov

Minimum 60 cm in other waters

Adipose fin-clipped landlocked salmon Vuoksi and Hiitolanjoki waters specified in the map annexed to the Fishing Degree 1 June to 31 Aug.

Rivers and brooks 1 Aug to 30 Nov.

Minimum 60 cm.

Quota for recreational fishing 1 salmon/day/person in the Vuoksi river basin.

Arctic char Fully protected in Lake Kuolimo and

in Lake Saimaa in the area between Puumalansalmi and Vuoksenniska.

Elsewhere in the Vuoksi river basin 1 Sept to 30 Nov

Minimum 60 cm elsewhere in the Vuoksi river basin.

Minimum 45 cm in Lake Inari.

Grayling Fully protected in marine areas.

Inland waters south of latitude 67 00´N 1 April to 31 May

Minimum 35 cm south of and 30 cm north of latitude 67 00´N

Whitefish Rivers and brooks flowing into the sea

1 Sept to 30 Nov

-Lamprey 1 April to 15 Aug

-Zander/pike-perch - Minimum 42 cm

Eel 1 Oct to 31 Jan

-Noble crayfish, signal crayfish,

narrow-clawed crayfish 1 Nov to 21 July at 12 noon

-Legislation/Legislation_on_the_protection_of_water_and_the_sea. The legislation is sectorial and the main elements are presented in Figure 1.

According to Finland’s water legislation, water permits are required for all activities affecting constructions in water or the water supply, and according to the environmental protection legislation, permits are needed for all activities involving the risk of water pollution. One important condition for permits is that emissions are limited to the levels obtainable by using Best Available Techniques (BAT).

Applications should be submitted to the relevant Regional State Administrative Agency or to the relevant authority, as defined in the Environmental Protection Act and Decree. The authority will then make the application public as appropriate, giving the relevant authorities and anyone affected by the plans time to comment and make proposals concerning the requirements for the permit (Figure 2). Complaints against any permit decisions may be made to the Administrative Court of Vaasa, then to the Supreme Administrative Court.

In the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the environmental impact of the project is assessed at the preparation stage, before any decisions are made and when the forthcoming solutions can still be influenced. The EIA procedure is a project planning tool, and its results must be taken into account when granting permits for projects. The developer of the project is responsible for conducting the necessary environmental investigations and producing the scoping document and Environmental Impact Assessment Report. Developers can be individual companies or public actors, such as municipalities or government agencies. The procedure is supervised and monitored by the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, who act as competent authorities. The public and the authorities affected by the project can participate in the EIA procedure. The nature of the procedure is participatory and open.

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) states that member states should aim to preserve and achieve good status in all surface water bodies. The national legislation based on WFD has an impact also on the permit procedure. River Basin Management Plans must be taken into consideration when authorities assess permit application in accordance of the provisions in the Environmental Protection Act and the Water Act.

FIGURE 1

Main parts of the Finnish water protection legislation (adapted from Keto 2019)