The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) has proposed restrictions for fish nets to save the critically endangered Saimen seal.
The Saimen seal is a fresh water subspecies of the Ringed seal, its occurrence restricted to the mythical Lake Saimen in Eastern Finland. There are only 260 individuals left, and the population is declining, fishing being the main threat to the species. Between 20-30 Saimen seals perish each year in fishermen’s nets, most of them inexperienced young seals caught in the spring.
The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation recently proposed to Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Sirkka-Liisa Anttila that net fishing should be banned between 15 april and 30 June for next five years in the most important Saimen seal waters. The ban would not exlude fishing with other sorts of traps.
“The Saimen seal is now more threatened than ever before”, FANC chairman Risto Sulkava said. His, and other Finnish conservation organisations, have campaigned for voluntary restrictions for many years, but feel their efforts are running out of time. “The Saimen seal can’t wait anymore”, Dr Sulkava stressed.