Commercial fishing

State-owned waters make commercial fishing activities possible in most regions of Finland. Persons intending to fish commercially must apply for a separate commercial fishing permit from Metsähallitus. 

All commercial fishing permits and leases for state-owned waters are issued for 3–5 years at a time. Applications for permits are carried out every three years in Enontekiö, Inari, and Utsjoki, and every five years elsewhere in Finland. Permits can only be granted to natural persons or legal entities registered in the commercial fisherman's register of the ELY Centre.

Application periods are announced on this page, as well as in the news section of the Eräluvat.fi service, the Metsa.fi website, and in several newspapers. Separate applications may be announced for individual water areas or a few separate areas also between the national application periods.

Where do you need a commercial fishing permit?

Commercial fishing in state-owned waters generally requires a separate permit.

Within the Finnish economic region and in the Finnish public waters in the Baltic Sea simply paying the fisheries management fee grants the right to commercial fishing. Metsähallitus can also lease a salmon and trout fishing site for maximum five years at a time for commercial fishers with an operator-specific salmon quota.

Within inland public waters a separate permit is always required for commercial fishing. 

Fishing traps and prices starting from 1 January 2026

The prices of commercial fishing permits are set by a decree from the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The prices are listed per trap per calendar year. Prices starting from 1 January 2026 will be confirmed during the latter part of 2025, once the new decree comes into effect. General cost increases may affect permit prices.

You van apply for a commercial fishing permit for the following types of traps:

• Seine net: price - €
• Fyke net or fish trap (max height 1,5 m): price - €
• Large fyke net (height 1,5–5 m): price - €
• Large fyke net (height over 5 m): price - €
• Trawl net (max length 300 m): price - €
• Trawl net (length over 300 m): price - €
• Net (max length 31 m, max height 5 m), crayfish trap, fish trap (3 traps), 10 bait hooks and longline with max 100 hooks: price - €
• Net (max length 31 m, height over 5 m), crayfish trap, fish trap (3 traps), 10 bait hooks and longline with max 100 hooks: price - €
• Rod (max 8 rods): price - €

Application periods

The validity of permits granted for 2020–2024 has been extended till 31 December 2025.

The application round for 2026–2030 will take place from 15 September to 10 October 2025, 4:15 PM. You can read the public announcement here.

Permits should primarily be applied for electronically via the Eräluvat.fi service. You can track the progress of your application by logging into your user account on the Eräluvat.fi service. Your application can be found under "Applications" and then "Commercial Fishing". A notification of the permit decision will be sent to the email address provided in the application.

Permits can also be applied for using an application form, which should be sent to Metsähallitus Registry by 10 October 2025 4:15 PM: Metsähallitus, Kirjaamo, P.O. Box 80, FI-00521 HELSINKI or kirjaamo@metsa.fi. Please see below for the application forms.

Between the application periods, you may contact the Metsähallitus personnel listed below and ask for commercial fishing permits and waters that may still be available. These applications are processed in the order they are received, and the possibility of granting a permit is determined on a case-by-case basis through overall consideration.

Application forms and instructions

We will update the instructions and other material on this page before the next application period.

Instructions for applying

• Instruction: Commercial fishing 2026–2030  (PDF, xx kb)
• Instruction: Leases of salmon and trout fishing sites 2026–2030 (PDF, xx kb)
• Instruction: Leases of salmon and trout fishing sites (regale sites) 2026–2030 (PDF, xx kb)

Application forms

• Form: Commercial fishing 2026–2030 (PDF, xx kb)
• Form: Leases of salmon and trout fishing sites 2026–2030 (PDF, xx kb)
• Form:  Leases of salmon and trout fishing sites (regale sites) 2026–2030 (PDF, xx kb)

Principles for granting permits

Based on the decision by The Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY Centres), commercial fishers are divided into two groups. Fishers in Group I are prioritised over commercial fishers in Group II when granting permits. Local fishers are also given priority. An applicant's locality is considered on the basis of their municipality of residence.

The applicant's other fishing opportunities may also affect the granting of a permit, e.g. the possibility to fish in the waters of a joint-ownership association. The applicant's fishing opportunities are considered as a whole when considering the application. If the applicant has previous fishing experience in the area, it is viewed favourably. 

Permits may be voided during the permit period due to misuse, violations of legislation or permit conditions, changes in legislation, or other similar reasons.

The annual validity of permits requires an annual catch report to the ELY Centre, in accordance with Section 90 of the Fisheries Act and Section 4 of the Decree on Commercial Fishers.

One of the goals of granting permits is to have them be used as intended.

For this reason, a permit may be terminated during the permit period if it has not been used without a justified reason. Failure to use a granted fishing permit without a justified reason also weakens the applicant’s chances of being granted permits in the future. A permit is considered unused if the permit holder has not submitted the required annual catch report to the ELY Centre, as stipulated in Section 90 of the Fisheries Act, or if the non-use of the permit has not been agreed upon with Metsähallitus.