Diversification

Fishing is an important and profitable activity in the FLAG area, especially along the main section of the Kymijoki River. Fish farming is also an important economic activity, with a strong tradition in the area. The existence of local centres of population, as well as the proximity of the Helsinki metropolitan region, guarantees a consistent demand for fish products.

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 Central Finland FLAG is looking for solutions to grade, scale and gut cyprinid fish, mainly roach.

The North Sardinia FLAG wishes to cooperate with FLAGs concerned with new start-up models led by young people, fishermen’s relatives or young people leaving secondary schools who want to create self-employment opportunities.

The Bothhian Sea and Lake Pyhäjärvi FLAG from the south of Finland is open to cooperation ideas. The FLAG has long-term experience in lake fisheries and in the development of fisheries with a strong link to water quality management.

With local unemployment standing at over 34% and an isolated and struggling fishing sector, Cádiz Estrecho FLAG has invested in promoting its fishing heritage – and in particular its traditional “almadraba” tuna fishing activity, which dates back to Phoenicians times – as a unique selling point to attract quality tourism beyond the peak season.

The Mariña Ortegal FLAG from Galicia, Spain, is open to cooperation ideas from around Europe. In particular, it is interested in cooperation on projects related to adding value to fisheries projects through processing and marketing.

FISCHtival, the open air festival of concerts and food organized by the Tirschenreuth FLAG in the summer of 2015, had not expected to provide such a transformation to the local community. The initial idea behind the event was to promote the activities of the pond fishing association, which is responsible for the administration of the FLAG.

The “Fishtaverns” project aims to raise the quality standards of local seafood restaurants – their products and hosting capabilities – notably by improving the use of fresh fisheries products and applying attractive communication tools.

The experience developed by FARNET under Axis 4 of the EFF (2007-2013) is still highly valuable for the current programming period, especially for new FLAGs.