Fritidsfisket efter lax med fällor längs Bottniska vikens kust 2021–2024

Salmon fisheries in the Baltic Sea have changed substantially over recent decades. Among other things, coastal recreational salmon fishing using traps in the Bothnian Bay has declined in extent. Despite the currently limited scale of this fishery, there remains a need for annual catch estimates, as these data are used in stock assessments of Baltic salmon conducted by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This report summarises and describes surveys of recreational trap nets conducted along the Swedish coast in the Gulf of Bothnia during the fishing seasons 2021–2024. The work was carried out by the County Administrative Boards in the four northernmost counties and includes information on the geographical location of the identified traps and the fishing period when they were active. The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua) has estimated catches by relating survey data to reported catches and fishing effort in the commercial fishery. The total number of identified recreational trap nets declined from 27 in 2021 to only 7 in 2024. The proportion of traps was consistently highest in Norrbotten County (ICES Subdivision 31). Compared to previous decades, the estimated catches for 2021–2024 were consistently low, primarily reflecting a reduced fishing pressure. The methodology applied is considered to provide a dataset that is comparable over time; however, the results are affected by uncertainties related both to data collection and to the assumptions required. The results should therefore primarily be interpreted as indicative of trends. Under the EU’s revised Fisheries Control Regulation ((EC) No 1224/2009; (EU) 2023/2842), requirements for registration and catch reporting for certain recreational fishers in the sea were introduced in January 2026. These requirements include, among other things, fishing for Baltic salmon. However, the national prerequisites for implementing the regulation in Sweden are not yet in place. Once legislation and systems for such reporting are in place, reported data should be able to replace targeted surveys. Until then, and likely also during a transitional period, there remains a need to conduct surveys and annual catch estimations of recreational trap net fisheries, provided that recreational fishing is permitted under international and national regulations. The simplified methodology developed and applied during 2021–2024, and presented in this report, is considered suitable for this purpose.