Local owner-based management of Finnish lake fisheries: social dimensions and power relations

Abstract

Traditionally most inland water bodies in Finland were privately owned as an extension of land ownership. Statutory ®shery associations are responsible for local decision-making on most lakes. Social dimensions have been tightly embedded in decision making by these associations. The local level of Finnish ®sheries management has been subjected to a fundamental shift from locally based subsistence ®shing and wide local participation in ®sheries associations to a wide range of non-local recreational demands and decreasing participation. In this paper the functionality of local resource management in the Finnish context of private ownership of ®shing waters is studied, with focus on the social signi®cance of local decision-making and representation of user groups in the decision-making process. The main material consists of personal thematic interviews with a range of ®shermen, decision makers and other stakeholders in two lakes. K E Y W O R D S : Finland, local governance, recreational ®sheries, thematic interviews.

Impacts of mesh-size regulation of gillnets on the pikeperch fisheries in the Archipelago Sea, Finland

“…Each separate situation should be carefully analysed before decision-making. The preconditions for widely accepted decisions are good in Finland, because gillnet fishing in the Finnish inland and coastal waters is regulated by Fisheries Regions, which consist of a wide group of local water owners and fishermen (Sipponen, 1995;Salmi and Muje, 2001). From the biological viewpoint, more should be known about the relationship between the spawning stock and recruitment in pikeperch, and the effect of a larger spawning stock on the outcome of mesh-size regulation should be included in the model in future work.…”

The social in change: property rights contradictions in Finland

“…It jointly represents the interests of individual owners in fishery matters (Salmi and Muje 2001). The traditional scope of operation has been the village.…”

“…The representatives of fishery associations remain in the majority, but representatives of recreational and commercial fishers are also involved. The grip of government was further strengthened in 1982 through the establishment of 11 fishery districts, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Salmi and Muje 2001). International agreements and the adoption of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) increased fisheries regulations and control after Finland joined the EU in 1995.…”

Rural Pluriactivity as a Coping Strategy in Small‐Scale Fisheries

“…The decision-making body is commonly a collective, such as a shareholders association, which jointly controls the interests of individual owners in fishery matters (Salmi and Muje 2001). However, the current governance system is a combination of local decisionmaking and a top-down state management system.…”