Marine areas - Perch 2025

13.10.2026

The coastal perch catch in 2025 was the fifth largest recorded during the monitoring period that began in 1980. According to the stock assessment, the 2018–2020 perch year classes in the Archipelago Sea appear to be moderately strong. In 2024, estimates of perch stock abundance and biomass turned downward. Gillnet fishing effort targeting perch continued to decline, meaning that coastal perch catches are increasingly dependent on trap net fisheries. If perch biomass in the Archipelago Sea continues to decrease, this is likely to result in smaller perch catches in the future.

According to the latest stock assessment based on virtual population analysis (VPA), the 2018–2019 perch year classes in the Archipelago Sea currently appear to be moderately strong (Figure 76). Their strength is supported by their substantial contribution to the good catches in 2025, accounting for 26% and 23% of the gillnet catch, respectively. In addition, the 2017 year class contributed 15% and the 2020 year class 12% of the catch.

In 2024, the abundance estimate of the perch stock in the Archipelago Sea was, according to the VPA assessment, approximately at the same level as in the previous year, but biomass estimates declined (Figure 77). The average size of perch in the commercial fishery has increased (Olin & Raitaniemi 2022b), and the estimated biomass of the perch stock has remained relatively high compared with abundance estimates since 2009.

The commercial coastal perch catch in 2025 (979 tonnes) was almost unchanged from the previous year, and for the fourth consecutive year it remained substantially above the long-term average (659 tonnes) (Figure 70). Annual perch catches by commercial fishers in marine areas have fluctuated considerably but have been increasing again since 2018. Commercial perch catches increased in the Gulf of Finland and in the Bothnian Bay, where catches reached a record level. In the Bothnian Sea, perch catches remained roughly unchanged from the previous year, while in the Archipelago Sea they declined somewhat but remained at a high level. In 2025, the Archipelago Sea accounted for 44% of the total commercial coastal perch catch, the Bothnian Sea for 24%, the Bothnian Bay for 17%, and the Gulf of Finland for 4%. The Quark accounted for 6% (61 tonnes).

In 2024, the total recreational perch catch along the coast (latest published estimate) was estimated at 2,183 tonnes, more than twice the commercial catch. In the southern marine areas, the decline in recreational catches appears to have levelled off (Figure 71). In the Bothnian Sea, recreational catches have fluctuated substantially. In the Bothnian Bay, catches appear to be showing a slight upward trend.

Gillnet fishing effort for perch has declined in all marine areas, although in recent years the decline appears to have stopped or at least slowed down (Figure 72). In recent years, fishing effort has been clearly highest in the Bothnian Sea and lowest in the Gulf of Finland. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) increased in the northern marine areas until recent years and remains particularly high in the Bothnian Sea (282 g per gillnet day; Figure 72). In the Archipelago Sea, the 2025 CPUE (241 g per gillnet day) increased slightly following the collapse observed the previous year and remained somewhat below the long-term average (263 g per gillnet day). In the Gulf of Finland, CPUE (249 g per gillnet day) increased to record levels and is now comparable to that of the Archipelago Sea and the Bothnian Bay.

References

Olin, M. & Raitaniemi, J. 2022b. Merialueen ahven. Julkaisussa: Kalakantojen tila vuonna 2021 sekä ennuste vuosille 2022 ja 2023 : Silakka, kilohaili, turska, lohi, meritaimen, siika, kuha, ahven ja hauki. Luonnonvara- ja biotalouden tutkimus 72/2022: 108-117.