Fish catch and production 2021

The statistics were formerly called Total Fish Production. Name was changed on 26 January 2023. Title of statistical release was changed on 31 January 2023.

Total fish production refers to the total volume of catch from commercial and recreational fishing, as well as the volume of fish farmed for food. The total fish production was at its lowest, at 124 million kilos, in 1991 when the demand for Baltic herring decreased due to an economic downturn affecting the fur industry, and at its largest in 2016 due to a record catch of Baltic herring. In 2021, 148 million kilos of fish were caught or produced in Finland.

• The catch volume varied between 105 and 192 million kilos in 1980–2021. A total of 50–80% of the total catch consisted of Baltic herring and sprat caught by commercial fishermen. The majority of this was sold as feed for fish and fur animals. In 2021, commercial fishermen caught 97 million kilos of fish from Finland’s sea areas being 38 million kilos less than in 2019.
• The commercial inland fishery catch was 5.1 million kilos, with vendace being the most important fish species in terms of volume. It accounted for 40% of the total catch. The commercial inland pikeperch catch increased strongly during the 2010s, with more than 80% of the commercial pikeperch catch being caught from inland waters at the end of the decade. Pikeperch was the most valuable species in commercial inland fishery in 2021. In the 1990s, 90% of the commercial pikeperch catch was caught in the sea areas.
• The volume of recreational catch was largest in the first half of the 1990s, making nearly half of the total catch in 1992. The recreational catch of 31 million kilos in 2020 accounted for 21% of the total catch in Finland.
• Approximately 14.4 million kilos of fish were farmed for human consumption in Finland in 2021. Of this, rainbow trout accounted for 94%, with the remaining proportion mainly consisting of European whitefish.
• The total number of commercial fishermen in 2021 was around 4,900, with around 2,350 in the marine area and around 1,750 in inland waters. There were 420 full-time fishermen in the sea and about 340 in inland waters. In aquaculture, there were just over 800 people employed, which is about 200 fewer than in previous years. The number of recreational fishermen was around 1,475,000.