Landlocked salmon of Lake Pielinen into the Lieksanjoki River

Background of the project – Aims – Project area

The fate of the landlocked salmon of Lake Pielinen has been a topic of discussion for over two decades. The original stocks of both the landlocked salmon and the brown trout of Lake Pielinen disappeared due to the construction of hydropower stations. Salmon and trout have been reintroduced by releasing fish from stock from Lake Saimaa. Within this stock are the remaining fish of the original salmon population. The diversity of the salmon population has been maintained by using spawners caught from the Lieksanjoki River and the Pielisjoki River.

Strengthening the landlocked salmon stock and reintroducing it to the Lieksanjoki River has been the centre of attention of both officials and local task groups. Since the deregulation of log floating in the Lieksanjoki River in 1988, the fishery potential of the river has been increased through state-supported restoration work. This has opened up the possibility of the natural recovery of the salmon and trout stocks.

The Landlocked Salmon Project of the Ruunaa Rapids Fishing Area has produced a report recommending the building of a fish-way. Following a proposal from the project, the city of Lieksa declared itself the City of Landlocked Salmon and many groups committed themselves to continuing the project. The importance of landlocked salmon for tourism was also identified in the project.

The aims of the project

The objectives of the project are to protect the diversity and the natural lifecycle of the landlocked salmon of Lake Pielinen, to create a ‘landlocked salmon image’ and to make landlocked salmon a product for the tourism industry. The latter will be carried out both in the Finnish Karelia of Lake Pielinen and on the Russian side of the Lieksanjoki River.

As a basis for the project alongside landlocked salmon are other valuable species of fish of the area, as well as the unique nature of the river. The second phase of creating the fish-way involves the opening of a channel for the fish to swim up on their way to the rapids which are situated above Lake Pankajärvi and which have partly been specially restored to provide wider spawning areas than before.

The project area

Lake Pielinen and the Lieksanjoki River are located in the Finnish province of North Karelia (Pohjois-Karjala), along the Russian Border.