Swedish Lakes Fisheries Improvement Project
OVERVIEW OF THE SWEDISH LAKES FIP
Sweden has close to 100,000 lakes, most of which are in good condition and, if large enough and suitably located, support commercial and recreational fisheries. The Swedish Insjöfiskarenas Centralförbund (SIC), a parent organization that comprises multiple commercial freshwater fisheries associations in Sweden, has spearheaded efforts to obtain formal certification for several of its more prominent freshwater fisheries as sustainable fisheries by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). With the support of environmental organizations and the Department of Aquatic Resources at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SIC led an effort that culminated in 2006 in the world’s first MSC certified commercial freshwater fishery – the pike perch, Sander lucioperca, fishery in Sweden’s Lake Hjälmaren. Building on this momentum, two other Swedish pike perch fisheries were certified in 2018, including one operating in Europe’s largest lake, Lake Vänern, and another in Lake Mälaren, also a large lake. SIC holds the certificate for Lake Hjälmaren, which is due to expire on July 2, 2024, and Lakes Vänern and Mälaren, which are valid until January 12, 2023.
The SIC desires to renew and expand its certification of pike perch fisheries in Lakes Hjälmaren, Vänern, and Mälaren. The recertification process presents a potential opportunity to not only update and combine the certificates of the existing certified fisheries, but also to expand coverage and protect the fish communities and associated ecosystems in which pike perch are found. To become certified, a fishery must be sustainably managed, and the surrounding environment must be maintained. Each of the lakes mentioned above comprise unique socio-ecological systems that support endemic species (e.g., Vänern salmon: a landlocked variant of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar) and endangered species (e.g., European eel Anguilla anguilla). Actively managing fishery certification compliance will benefit fishers and local fish populations, as well as the lake ecosystems themselves.
Freshwater fisheries specialists from EcoWB are serving as technical advisors to support SIC’s efforts to update and expand certification of its fisheries. This effort will directly benefit the fisheries and the ecosystems on which they rely, thereby promoting the interests and well-being of local fishers and the public at large while ensuring sustainable outcomes for Sweden’s great lakes.
Results:
EcoWB volunteer Henry Hansen PhD. candidate, collaborated with SIC, consulting on Fisheries Improvement Project development, and assisting them with raising funds and interest in starting a fisheries improvement project on Lake Hjälmaren. Together, momentum was built to embark on fisheries improvements in the lake leading to MSC certification. The fishers were able to hire a Swedish consulting firm to conduct MSC Pre-Evaluation and the fishery is on its way to certification. The EcoWB project ended after our support was no longer needed.
