In 2003 there were about 240 fish processing companies in Finland. Fish was traded by about 100 wholesale businesses and 200 retail outlets. Fish processing and trade employ about 1,400 persons.

Most of the fish processing companies are small and usually they engage in some other business as well. About 70 per cent of the production is located on the west coast. Of the domestic fish Baltic herring and rainbow trout are the most significant as raw material, while mainly salmon, rainbow trout and herring is imported. In 2003 the processing industry used altogether 50 million kg of fish, of which 36 million kg was domestic.

Most of the fish wholesalers are also quite small and the sector is less concentrated than other food trade. Most of the fish is sold through the largest Finnish trade chains in the food sector.

According to the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute, in 2004 the value of fish and fish product imports was 162.3 million euros and the value of exports was 10.8 million euros.

Further information is available on the Internet pages of the Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute at www.rktl.fi.