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Fishing

fishing ocean fish catch Baltic Sea fish catch inland waters fish catch aquaculture

Fishing has been an important source of livelihood for people living in coastal Estonia. European sprat and Baltic herring have always been a part of the Estonian diet. Rainbow trout from fish farms has shown up more recently. Fish caught in Estonian waters and processed here reaches also the tables of people living in other countries.

Fishing and aquaculture statistics provide the following information:

  • which fish and from which water bodies are caught the most;
  • what is the state of spawning stock;
  • how are Estonian fish farmers doing;
  • how many people are employed in aquaculture and fishing.

Fisheries statistics are used to plan and monitor fishing activities, to manage fish stocks, taking into account the ecosystem, in order to reduce the negative impact of fishing activities and to secure fish stocks for the future.

Ocean fish catch 14,893.1 tonnes
2020
Baltic Sea fish catch 55,766.9 tonnes
2020
European sprat catch in the Baltic Sea 24,309.7 tonnes
2020
Baltic herring catch in the Baltic Sea 28,608.0 tonnes
2020
Inland waters fish catch 3,615.2 tonnes
2020
Condition of spawning stock biomass in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga 501,973 tonnes
2019
Share of marine protected areas 27.2 %
2020
Fish farming production sold in Estonia 1,040 tonnes
2020
Sales of farmed fish roe for consumption 10.6 tonnes
2020
Fish farming production sold | 2005 - 2020
Source data in the statistical database: KA40
Baltic Sea fish catch by species | 2005 - 2020
Source data in the statistical database: KA20
Ocean fish catch by species | 2005 - 2020
Source data in the statistical database: KA10
Inland waters fish catch by species | 2005 – 2020
Unit: tonnes
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
European perch 399 547 365 759 820 1,217 777 1,077 920 797 836 1,025 682 568 799 1,251
European eel 19 23 24 24 16 14 13 15 15 16 14 14 15 18 21 37
Northern pike 126 187 176 90 102 85 135 203 217 188 144 143 134 122 144 148
Pike-perch 712 1,127 929 668 723 534 711 681 672 657 462 761 918 736 695 949
Freshwater bream 419 425 546 768 782 574 677 681 696 850 784 757 847 754 664 712
Burbot 20 21 37 33 30 29 32 25 28 23 19 28 45 41 47 47
Atlantic salmon 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Silver bream / roach 270 257 269 252 211 223 246 223 202 235 229 222 212 211 188 220
Houting 2 1 2 1 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
European cisco 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 19 11 13 45 307 303 143
European river lamprey 62 43 62 67 59 40 39 45 40 30 47 31 41 25 34 36
Orde(Ide) 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 5 4 3
European smelt 169 83 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 355 19 56
Vimba 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other fish 201 142 154 84 81 49 17 15 51 31 27 23 13 14 14 14

Source data in the statistical database: KA30
Baltic Sea fish catch by species | 2005 – 2020
Unit: tonnes
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
European perch 689 1,117 777 703 810 879 796 550 1,217 1,567 1,523 1,374 1,291 1,137 979 749
European eel 9 9 6 5 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Eelpout 0 0 2 1 0 1 3 4 1 0 1 0 68 69 31 35
Sea trout 11 12 17 12 14 12 14 17 15 15 16 20 17 17 17 17
Northern pike 23 20 14 16 13 23 32 35 66 65 52 42 40 68 76 77
European sprat 55,285 46,689 51,007 48,602 47,298 47,862 34,976 27,697 29,805 28,498 23,954 23,687 26,546 29,626 30,649 24,310
Pike-perch 69 94 99 64 67 73 111 147 122 173 83 107 56 66 52 20
Freshwater bream 7 6 9 7 5 4 8 11 9 13 8 7 8 9 9 6
Flounder 403 352 335 284 288 285 280 243 284 313 239 201 187 169 150 176
Burbot 1 3 3 1 1 1 2 2 3 5 5 4 3 2 2 1
Atlantic salmon 8 6 6 6 5 4 4 5 7 5 6 7 9 8 8 11
Silver bream / roach 85 93 102 84 81 88 106 111 102 124 125 140 120 133 158 183
Baltic herring 22,098 23,192 26,108 31,838 33,164 28,862 25,325 22,047 21,941 23,130 32,317 33,769 35,153 34,726 32,833 28,608
Pollan (=powan) 19 28 31 30 23 16 15 20 26 26 19 18 16 17 16 25
European river lampery 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ide (fish) 7 8 9 11 9 6 6 4 7 12 16 27 36 49 50 48
European smelt 203 435 549 739 771 452 200 406 517 234 435 699 411 425 624 964
Atlantic cod 589 702 946 973 821 796 1,180 689 249 165 183 2 1 1 2 1
Garfish 156 191 110 82 71 86 118 25 19 44 116 70 177 75 130 127
Vimba 40 28 35 32 23 30 50 53 56 84 93 73 88 97 119 80
Other fish 57 53 79 85 79 89 124 142 111 153 135 194 250 241 244 326

Source data in the statistical database: KA20
Ocean fish catch by species | 2005 – 2020
Unit: tonnes
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Atlantic cod 33 52 25 73 128 93 105 285 730 907 989 529 2,544 2,031 2,159 1,289
Sharks 22 10 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sea bream 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Atlantic halibut 0 0 0 3 0 3 3 10 11 25 22 30 41 44 44 31
Krill 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
American plaice 47 34 33 77 29 9 36 37 226 1,177 537 1,105 1,249 1,690 1,071 1,000
Silver hake 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Angel shark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Octopuses 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Roundnose grenadier 154 104 140 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Squids 0 523 0 0 5 43 329 1,248 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Shrimps 12,381 9,242 12,076 12,742 8,587 9,037 9,919 7,576 6,653 5,665 6,651 6,954 7,413 8,019 9,795 9,174
Winter flounder 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Splendid alfonsino 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cutlassfish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Capelin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Atlantic mackerel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1,367 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blue grenadier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Atlantic redfish 1,111 1,156 1,040 1,003 1,748 1,340 1,075 368 1,573 1,300 1,512 1,656 2,198 3,590 3,252 1,820
Wolffishes 74 63 10 2 5 12 0 0 1 14 1 8 30 36 15 3
Witch flounder 31 28 24 38 8 11 14 33 16 40 22 40 66 31 27 127
Red hake 47 26 2 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blue whiting 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Roughhead grenadier 103 95 69 132 41 93 116 72 110 136 26 13 23 12 3 11
Skate 541 258 366 123 29 228 82 161 155 246 47 162 304 46 7 2
Yellowtail flounder 20 6 25 33 0 4 13 32 350 24 342 351 39 347 358 335
Saithe 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
European pilchard 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Sardinellas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Blue ling 5 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Atlantic horse mackerel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Black scabbardfish 11 6 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Greenland halibut 534 785 366 299 300 441 279 266 727 1,037 694 1,092 1,142 1,286 1,103 1,067
Black drum 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tuna 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
White hake 1 0 32 19 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 10
Butterfish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other fish 1,423 1,632 704 16 1 1,510 2,618 1,902 36 277 152 88 85 22 0 24

Source data in the statistical database: KA10

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Sales of crayfish and fish roe grew the most last year

According to Statistics Estonia, in 2020, fish farming enterprises sold 1,039 tonnes of commercial fish and crayfish, for a total of more than 4 million euros. The biggest increase occurred for fish roe placed on the market, with record sales registered.
Read more 25. May 2021
International statistics
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Aquaculture
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Global Capture Produc…
OECD - Aquaculture
Eurostat - Aquaculture
Eurostat - Fish capture
External links
Veterinary and Food Board - Catch and landing data