Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Saturday 6 July 2024

Protection of the Saimaa norpa: The ban on net fishing in Saimaa has ended

The topic of the news week is the endangered Saimaa norpa, which only lives in Finland.

An attempt is made to protect Norppa by banning net fishing in Lake Saimaa in the early summer. The ban ended this week.

Now we will tell you more about the Saimaa norma.

The Saimaan grouse lives only in Finland

The Saimaa fur seal is a seal that only lives in Finland. The Saimaa norppa lives in Eastern Finland in Saimaa, which is Finland’s largest lake.

The Saimaan porpoise became isolated in Saimaa about 8,000 years ago. After the ice age, the connection between Saimaa and the Baltic Sea was broken because the land started to rise.

The Saimaan grouse is a rare and highly endangered species, i.e. in danger of disappearing. The biggest threat to Saimaan norpa is net fishing.

Saimaa’s net fishing ban ended

Attempts have been made to protect the Saimaa norpa by limiting net fishing in Saimaa. The annual internet ban in Saimaa’s restricted area started in mid-April and ended at the end of June.

Fishing is the greatest danger to the Saimaa nork. Saimaa norpas die every year when they swim into a net or a pond that is not safe for the norpas.

That’s why the nature organization WWF hopes that there will be no net fishing in July either.

Petteri Tolvanen, WWF Finland’s program director, says that norsk dies in nets specifically in July, when the restrictions end.

Nets and traps are dangerous in all seasons

Nets are dangerous for whitefish all year round. A friend of ferrets fishes with gear that is safe for ferrets.

The Fisheries Act says that you must always notify Metsähallitus of a roe deer that has died in a catch.

However, not everyone makes a report. That’s why every drowning of a norpa in the network is not reported.

The Saimaa norpa still needs protection

The number of Saimaa norppa is currently about 480. The norppa sometimes completely disappeared from, for example, North Saimaa.

Despite the conservation work, the Saimaan grouse is still very endangered.

In addition to the online ban, people help the norpa in the winter. Snow cones have been made on the ice of Saimaa. They are the winter nests of the harrier, where it gives birth to its chicks, i.e. cubs.

Saimaan Norpa cubs are born in February–March.