Fishing
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
15,681.7 tonnes
2022
Baltic Sea fish catch
55,549.5 tonnes
2022
European sprat catch in the Baltic Sea
27,551.9 tonnes
2022
Baltic herring catch in the Baltic Sea
25,313.3 tonnes
2022
Inland waters fish catch
2,630.4 tonnes
2022
Condition of spawning stock biomass in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Riga
387,052 tonnes
2021
Share of marine protected areas
18.7 %
2021
Fish farming production sold in Estonia
801 tonnes
2022
Sales of farmed fish roe for consumption
2.7 tonnes
2022
Fish farming production sold | 2007–2022
Baltic Sea fish catch by species | 2007–2022
Ocean fish catch by species | 2007–2022
Inland waters fish catch by species | 2007 – 2022
Unit: tonnes
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European perch | 365 | 759 | 820 | 1,217 | 777 | 1,077 | 920 | 797 | 836 | 1,025 | 682 | 568 | 799 | 1,251 | 518 | 847 |
European eel | 24 | 24 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 18 | 21 | 37 | 46 | 51 |
Northern pike | 176 | 90 | 102 | 85 | 135 | 203 | 217 | 188 | 144 | 143 | 134 | 122 | 144 | 148 | 121 | 103 |
Pike-perch | 929 | 668 | 723 | 534 | 711 | 681 | 672 | 657 | 462 | 761 | 918 | 736 | 695 | 949 | 625 | 479 |
Freshwater bream | 546 | 768 | 782 | 574 | 677 | 681 | 696 | 850 | 784 | 757 | 847 | 754 | 664 | 712 | 803 | 748 |
Burbot | 37 | 33 | 30 | 29 | 32 | 25 | 28 | 23 | 19 | 28 | 45 | 41 | 47 | 47 | 49 | 28 |
Atlantic salmon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Silver bream / roach | 269 | 252 | 211 | 223 | 246 | 223 | 202 | 235 | 229 | 222 | 212 | 211 | 188 | 220 | 261 | 284 |
Houting | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
European cisco | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 19 | 11 | 13 | 45 | 307 | 303 | 143 | 83 | 46 |
European river lamprey | 62 | 67 | 59 | 40 | 39 | 45 | 40 | 30 | 47 | 31 | 41 | 25 | 34 | 36 | 27 | 27 |
Orde(Ide) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
European smelt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 355 | 19 | 56 | 149 | 0 |
Vimba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Other fish | 154 | 84 | 81 | 49 | 17 | 15 | 51 | 31 | 27 | 23 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 17 | 13 |
Baltic Sea fish catch by species | 2007 – 2022
Unit: tonnes
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
European perch | 777 | 703 | 810 | 879 | 796 | 550 | 1,217 | 1,567 | 1,523 | 1,374 | 1,291 | 1,137 | 979 | 749 | 792 | 760 |
European eel | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Eelpout | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 68 | 69 | 31 | 35 | 16 | 29 |
Sea trout | 17 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 16 |
Northern pike | 14 | 16 | 13 | 23 | 32 | 35 | 66 | 65 | 52 | 42 | 40 | 68 | 76 | 77 | 60 | 55 |
European sprat | 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 | 25,713 | 27,552 |
Pike-perch | 99 | 64 | 67 | 73 | 111 | 147 | 122 | 173 | 83 | 107 | 56 | 66 | 52 | 20 | 53 | 24 |
Freshwater bream | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
Flounder | 335 | 284 | 288 | 285 | 280 | 243 | 284 | 313 | 239 | 201 | 187 | 169 | 150 | 176 | 115 | 108 |
Burbot | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Atlantic salmon | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
Silver bream / roach | 102 | 84 | 81 | 88 | 106 | 111 | 102 | 124 | 125 | 140 | 120 | 133 | 158 | 183 | 154 | 204 |
Baltic herring | 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 | 27,177 | 25,313 |
Pollan (=powan) | 31 | 30 | 23 | 16 | 15 | 20 | 26 | 26 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 25 | 25 | 24 |
European river lampery | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Ide (fish) | 9 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 16 | 27 | 36 | 49 | 50 | 48 | 65 | 69 |
European smelt | 549 | 739 | 771 | 452 | 200 | 406 | 517 | 234 | 435 | 699 | 411 | 425 | 624 | 964 | 784 | 817 |
Atlantic cod | 946 | 973 | 821 | 796 | 1,180 | 689 | 249 | 165 | 183 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Garfish | 110 | 82 | 71 | 86 | 118 | 25 | 19 | 44 | 116 | 70 | 177 | 75 | 130 | 127 | 107 | 159 |
Vimba | 35 | 32 | 23 | 30 | 50 | 53 | 56 | 84 | 93 | 73 | 88 | 97 | 119 | 80 | 75 | 86 |
Other fish | 79 | 85 | 79 | 89 | 124 | 142 | 111 | 153 | 135 | 194 | 250 | 241 | 244 | 326 | 341 | 317 |
Ocean fish catch by species | 2007 – 2022
Unit: tonnes
2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Atlantic cod | 25 | 73 | 128 | 93 | 105 | 285 | 730 | 907 | 989 | 529 | 2,544 | 2,031 | 2,159 | 1,289 | 1,016 | 798 |
Sharks | 6 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 22 | 30 | 41 | 44 | 44 | 31 | 38 | 31 |
Krill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
American plaice | 33 | 77 | 29 | 9 | 36 | 37 | 226 | 1,177 | 537 | 1,105 | 1,249 | 1,690 | 1,071 | 1,000 | 585 | 488 |
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 | 140 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Squids | 0 | 0 | 5 | 43 | 329 | 1,248 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
Shrimps | 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 | 8,810 | 11,282 |
Winter flounder | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Splendid alfonsino | 0 | 0 | 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 | 1,367 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 1,040 | 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 | 1,707 | 2,018 |
Wolffishes | 10 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 8 | 30 | 36 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Witch flounder | 24 | 38 | 8 | 11 | 14 | 33 | 16 | 40 | 22 | 40 | 66 | 31 | 27 | 127 | 73 | 4 |
Red hake | 2 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 69 | 132 | 41 | 93 | 116 | 72 | 110 | 136 | 26 | 13 | 23 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 46 | 3 |
Skate | 366 | 123 | 29 | 228 | 82 | 161 | 155 | 246 | 47 | 162 | 304 | 46 | 7 | 2 | 26 | 27 |
Yellowtail flounder | 25 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 32 | 350 | 24 | 342 | 351 | 39 | 347 | 358 | 335 | 315 | 393 |
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 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Greenland halibut | 366 | 299 | 300 | 441 | 279 | 266 | 727 | 1,037 | 694 | 1,092 | 1,142 | 1,286 | 1,103 | 1,067 | 897 | 495 |
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 | 32 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
Butterfish | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Other fish | 704 | 16 | 1 | 1,510 | 2,618 | 1,902 | 36 | 277 | 152 | 88 | 85 | 22 | 0 | 24 | 524 | 142 |
News
In fish farming, output decreased but the prices increased
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2022, fish farming enterprises sold 801 tonnes of commercial fish and crayfish, for a total of 4.9 million euros. The sale of fish roe amounted to 2.7 tonnes. The sold quantity of fish farming production decreased for the third year in a row. The quantity of fish roe sold in 2022 was 8 times smaller than the year before.
News
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.
News
Last year, a record amount of aquaculture production was sold
According to Statistics Estonia, in 2018, aquaculture enterprises sold 944 tonnes of commercial fish and crayfish, with a total value of 4.2 million euros. The volume of aquaculture production sold in 2018 was highest in the last twenty five years.
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