FLAG Factsheet
The Bothnian Sea coastline and Lake Pyhäjärvi have a lengthy tradition in the fisheries sector where the main catches include vendace and signal crayfish. About half of Finland´s Baltic herring catch is landed on the harbours along this particular part of the coast. Whitefish, salmon and other fresh water species are similarly important to the area. The processing industry is also highly active here. An additional positive development in recent years has been the growth in pesca-tourism.
The main challenges lie in adding value to local catches, especially herring, and in maintaining the necessary infrastructure for the fisheries activity to continue. Another challenge is the notably low number of young fishermen.
15 km2 (land), 912 km2 (water)
The top five challenges addressed in the FLAG strategy are:
National (€530 000) and local (municipalities: €517 440)
The FLAG aims to complement its EMFF budget with other sources of funding but this is not included in the budget of the strategy.
Project examples and ideas:
Projects can be presented and selected on an ongoing basis.
The FLAG is interested in sharing experience in pesca-tourism, herring processing, coastal fishing techniques and inland fishing including crayfish. In the area, there is strong know-how in freshwater fisheries, aquaculture (including closed systems), small-scale coastal fishing, bio manipulation and food-chain management.
There is no specific budget ear-marked for cooperation, but funding is possible as part of the project activities.
Type of cooperation projects foreseen: developing a Baltic FLAG network and pesca-tourism with transnational partners.
The FLAG territory overlaps with five LAG areas.
It shares its legal structure and one board member with Ravakka LEADER LAG, and both entities coordinate the cooperation among each other's partners.