In recent years the total catch of professional fishing at sea has been 80 to 110 million kg, which represents about 2/3 of the total catch of professional fishers. The most significant species is Baltic herring. Of the catch 30 to 40 per cent goes to human consumption and the rest is used as feed. Most of the Baltic herring is caught from the Gulf of Bothnia, while most of the sprat comes from the main basin of the Baltic Sea. Cod comes mainly from the waters near Bornholm and salmon is caught both from the main basin of the Baltic Sea and along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. The opportunities to fish Baltic herring, sprat, cod and salmon depend on the state of the fish stocks as well as the fishing quotas set for the EU Member States.
Finland has quotas for Baltic herring, sprat, salmon and cod in the Baltic Sea. The quotas have been divided regionally into eight sub-quotas.
On the Finnish coast there are more than one hundred fishing ports or wharfs where the fishing vessels may unload their catch. In recent years, however, a major part of the catch (more than 40 million kg) has been unloaded at the fishing ports of Kaskinen, Kasnäs, Uusikaupunki and Reposaari. In 2005 almost 27 million kg of Baltic herring and sprat, over 50 per cent of this for food, was unloaded at the Kaskinen fishing port, which represents about 64 per cent of the Baltic herring for human consumption in Finland.
Other important species for professional fishing in the coastal regions are European whitefish, pikeperch, perch and pike. Recently the growing seal population has caused problems for fishing and reduced the catches.
