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Fishermen get ready for the open water season by building and repairing their gear. Several kilometres of rope and dozens of heavy anchors are inspected, the torn guiding fences mended and the sun-burned parts of trap nets replaced. Hundreds of hours of work are needed to build a new gear to replace the one destroyed by a storm the year before. As soon as the ice is broken up the trap nets are put out in their permanent places. The waters around capes and shallows each have their special conditions and it will take some time before the gear is trimmed to fish optimally. The whitefish migrating to the coast use certain routes where the trap nets have to be set. Whitefish is a sensitive and unpredictable species. If it is too dark in the bag of the trap net, if the guiding fence is dirty or if the gear has been set in a wrong angle in relation to the flow of water the fishing effect will decrease decisively. This is why finding new fishing grounds is hard and may take several years. Also in this fishing method the traditional knowledge is of great value.
After the trap nets have been set out there is no time for leisure, because the nets have to be emptied and cleaned at regular intervals. For those who have several trap nets in a high season, this means hard work around the clock. If the weather is favourable and whitefish is caught, there is also the catch to be handled. Ice is kept aboard when emptying the trap nets as the fish have to be slaughtered and cooled down immediately. The gutting and packing take place in the port. Fishing for whitefish requires specializing in one species, as well as having access to fishing grounds which are suitable for the operation. Although the high season is in spring and summer, fishing for whitefish ties the fisherman in various service tasks for months before and after the season. In addition to making their main income by fishing with whitefish trap nets, many fishermen get additional income from fishing with gill nets, especially under the ice in winter. A fisherman specializing in one fishing method is vulnerable to external changes. In some years unfavourable weather conditions may result in decreased catches, which are part and parcel of the risk of fishery business. On the other hand, various environmental factors such as pollution of waters, or restrictions of fishing, or the recent explosive increase in the population of grey seals are unpredictable problems which create uncertainty resulting in lack of investment and lower profitability. The salmon season begins when the waters get warmer and the rise reaches its peak in June. Hardly any other fishing method has aroused such passion as salmon fishing in the large rivers flowing to the Bothnian Bay. There is a long history of lawsuits, disputes and even manslaughters concerning fishing rights. The main issue of these disagreements has naturally been the securing of the availability of this highly esteemed fish. Many of the disagreements not solved in the past centuries also have a wider sociological aspect which may still be actual to some extent. It was known in King Gustavus Vasa’s times already that part of a stream had to be left free for the salmon to swim up to their spawning rivers. This ’king’s course’, as it was called at the time, was approximately one third of the width of the river, and it preceded the present fish courses leading from the sea to the spawning areas in the rivers. This arrangement was for the best of the fish as well as of fishing. However, the old fishing traditions in the Bothnian Bay were ruined by building dams in the spawning rivers. In a couple of decades most of the salmon stocks (over thirty stocks), were lost – only the Tornio and Simojoki rivers still have their original stocks. The remaining stocks are exceptionally valuable and require intense protection.
The historical facts as well as the present situation place the fishermen in the Bothnian Bay in a highly responsible position. Every fisherman with a sense of responsibility understands that it is in his interests also to limit the catches to a level which will preserve the stocks and guarantee reasonable catches in the future. Since the 1980s the hydro-electric power companies have been obliged to carry out annual stockings of about two million smolts in the Bothnian Bay. This practice supports the natural reproduction in the spawning rivers, sustaining the fisheries at the same time. Trap net fishery has an important role in the traditional natural economy of the coastal communities, without which many a fishing village in the archipelago would become deserted. The highly esteemed whitefish and salmon are not difficult to market and the frequent stockings guarantee reasonable catches. The fishing culture connected to whitefish and salmon is so rich and diverse that were a fisherman to give up his occupation without passing on his experiences and knowledge, it would be impossible to replace him with someone having the same knowhow and experience. |
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