Press release, 1 June 2021
Atlantic salmon and trout will be transferred to the Iijoki and Livojoki rivers during the summer of 2021. Over-transfers support the emergence of salmonid stocks stigmatised in the river. The offspring of the transferred fish will migrate in smolts in a few years' time, when they can be followed in studies in Haapakoski.
Commercial fishermen catch salmon and trout from the estuary. The fish are transported in water tanks by car to waters above power plants. Fish are handled as gently as possible and avoid stress. Transfers are interrupted when the water temperature rises to 17 degrees.
‘The purpose is to transfer a maximum of 200 salmon or trout. The aim is to carry out transfers during June and, if necessary, to continue them in late summer.’, says the CEO Risto Tolonen Cooperative from Team Kala.
“Extra-transfers are expected to produce several thousand smolts if the fish to be transferred find a suitable spawning pair and breeding grounds. Once the Raasaka Fish Road is built, over-transfers can be made more efficient and the quantities of fish transferred can be increased’, continues project manager for the Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022 Mirko Laakkonen Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia.
Cooperative Team Kala is responsible for the practical implementation of overtransfers. The transfer permit is in the Iijoki fishing area and the measure is made possible by the Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022.
The measures of the Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022 are the construction of a downward migration path for smolts to Haapakoski, the planting of small juveniles, the over-transfer of high-rise fish, the transfer and monitoring of smolts, and the promotion of the construction of the Raasaka fish road. The project is implemented by PVO-Vesivoima Oy, the Lapland ELY Centre, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ii, Oulu, Pudasjärvi, Taivalkoski, Kuusamo, the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, the Iijoki fishing area, Metsähallitus, the North Ostrobothnia ELY Centre and the Natural Resources Institute Finland. The project is coordinated by the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. The total budget of the project is approximately EUR 2.2 million.
The project has received funding from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's NOUSU programme, which improves the living conditions of migratory fish and aims to restore the natural reproduction of migratory fish stocks in Finland's current waters.
More information on the Iijoki migratory fish project 2020-2022: Mirko Laakkonen, Project Manager, Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, tel. +358 40 685 4036, mirko.laakkonen(at)pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
