Saimaa seal deaths: Inspector warns of fishermen's ignorance and indifference

Ten Saimaa ringed seals have already died this year due to entanglement in fishing gear, a situation that conservationist Ossi Kokki describes as stemming from both a lack of understanding and indifference among fishermen. Kokki, who has been protecting the seals for two decades, noted that fishing regulations are being disregarded.

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How can this happen time and time again? Partly, it might be ignorance. Perhaps not everyone still realizes how dangerous that opening is. But I strongly suspect that indifference is also behind it.

Fishing nets are prohibited on Lake Saimaa from mid-April to the end of June. For fish traps and nets, the opening must not exceed 150 millimeters in the seals' primary living areas. The most recent death occurred on July 18, when a seal pup was found drowned in a fishing net with an opening of 180 millimeters, exceeding the legal limit. This was the third seal found in a loose-meshed trap within a month.

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I didn't know you couldn't keep nets.

"How can this happen time and time again?" Kokki questioned. "Partly, it might be ignorance. Perhaps not everyone still realizes how dangerous that opening is. But I strongly suspect that indifference is also behind it," he added. Kokki recounted instances where fishermen claimed ignorance of the rules or believed the restrictions wouldn't apply to them.

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It won't happen to me.

While an average of six seals have died in fishing gear annually over the past decade, Kokki does not believe more illegal gear is in use this summer. He suggests the increase in deaths, even relative to the seal population size, points to a growing problem. Kokki, who also works as a fishing inspector, emphasizes that he has never encountered any animosity towards seals, stating, "No one wants seal deaths, and no one wants to get rid of seals from Saimaa."

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No one wants seal deaths, and no one wants to get rid of seals from Saimaa.