On this date the Finnish Government approved the Government Resolution on Finland’s National Aquaculture Programme. The aim of the programme is to establish en internationally competitive operating environment for the sector and create the conditions for sustainable growth and diversification of the production. The Resolution reconciles the industrial and environmental policies concerning aquaculture and defines objectives and measures for developing the sector.

The operating conditions of aquaculture are good in Finland. Yet, as opposed to the general international trend, Finnish aquaculture production has been decreasing since the early 1990s. During the 2000s the annual production of food fish has been 13 to 15 million kilos and the number of juveniles produced has been about 70 million. Globally aquaculture is one of the most rapidly growing forms of primary food production, which is regarded as an important target for development actions on all continents.

Improving the preconditions for aquaculture makes it possible to increase the share of domestic fish in the consumption. Fish consumption is growing steadily in Finland, but the share of domestic fish has decreased considerably so that today it represents only about 30% of the consumption. In 2008 a total of 65 million kilos of food fish was imported to Finland.

The actions to develop the preconditions for the industry and environmental protection must be economically, socially and ecologically sustainable. The programme measures allow to keep the environmental impacts of the growing aquaculture production well under control. As a new environmental measure, efforts are made to promote the so-called Baltic Sea feed, which means that the raw material used for fish meal in the feed comes from the Baltic Sea.

Further information at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry:
Orian Bondestam, Ministerial Adviser, tel. +358 (0)400 392 011