The victory streak of the northern river trout continues. In Norway’s Näätämöjoki, there are so many of them that you could catch fish with your hands. However, soliciting without proper permits is prohibited.
From below the Näätämöjoki Kolttakönkä waterfall, humpback salmon could even be caught by hand, but catching the alien species from the river is prohibited without the relevant permits. Fishing without a license will result in a fine and possible other penalties.
– Usually humpback salmon migrates from the sea to the rivers in July, but now the migration seems to have already started around Midsummer, says the researcher Jaakko Erkinaro From Luke.
He thinks that the number of migrations this year will be quantitatively close to the previous humpback salmon rise year 2021. However, the situation is still in progress, and this year might be the most abundant humpback salmon year ever, reflects Erkinaro.
Humpback salmon is now of interest to both companies and fishermen
We learn and know more about humpback salmon every year. A fish that used to be considered garbage can now even be a reason to travel to Northern Norway, says a fisherman and fish journalist Hannu Kostilainen.
Fishing for humpback salmon is significantly different from fishing for Atlantic salmon in one respect. Humpback salmon can be caught in Näätämöjoki without limit in accordance with fishing permits and fishing rules, while Atlantic salmon can only be caught one fish per day. According to Kostilainen, this has attracted people from both Norway and Finland to catch humpback salmon.
He has also fished and eaten humpback salmon himself. In the past, fish distributed for free has also started to do business in Northern Norway. During the last few weeks, almost 10,000 humpback salmon have been killed in Norway’s Näätämöjoki.
– This is the first summer that a company from Kirkkonummi has bought all the humpback salmon of Näätämöjoki on the Norwegian side and the salmon of three other nearby rivers. They turn it into a fillet and use the whole fish, says Kostilainen.
Although the river is teeming with humpback salmon in places, Atlantic salmon is also fished daily from the river. Kostilainen thinks that most fishermen still come to Neiden specifically after Atlantic salmon.
Now the fishermen are taking advantage of the hunchback moment. Another option is to throw the fish in the trash, as the Norwegian government forbids the return of humpback salmon to the river.