Power Economy Surpassed the Advantages of Fishing – The History of Salmon in the Kemijoki River from Past to Present
Kemijoki was once Finland’s most important salmon river. The significance of Kemijoki as the most productive salmon river in the Gulf of Bothnia is illustrated by the estimated annual catch in the 17th century, which was as much as 3,000 barrels, equivalent to over 350,000 kilograms today. Of course, catches varied, and peak years often tend to be averaged out in later analyses. However, according to Kustaa Vilkuna, the researcher who studied the history of salmon fishing in Kemijoki most extensively (“Lohi,” Vilkuna 1975), this figure can be considered an average for the historical context of salmon fishing in the river. The author of the eulogistic poem “Gudz’ Werk” (1685), Archbishop Haqvin Spegel, proved to be a poor predictor:
“Where Kemijoki divides Ostrobothnia, Such a multitude of salmon shall never be found. Its annual yield is three thousand barrels. Ah, how many mouths the Lord provides for!”
The history of salmon in Kemijoki has practically been a story of the gradual destruction of the natural salmon stock and its fishing culture throughout historical time, involving numerous legal battles. In Vilkuna’s work, salmon fishing was organized into annually recurring ecological periods determined by fish behavior and fishing techniques. A broader layer of the research connects these wholes to a significant historical and societal transformation since the Middle Ages, concerning the changing importance of salmon fishing, its transfer to state control, and ultimately, the destruction of river fishing in the wheel of development.
It is believed that the salmon from Kemijoki was the largest and thus the most valuable caught in Finland. This was supported by T.H. Järvi’s long-term studies of various salmon rivers, which included 14,000 salmon specimens over a couple of decades. Salmon ascending the northern rivers had spent 2-3 years in the sea, with those that migrated for three years averaging 11-12 kilograms. In southern Finland, comparable salmon weighed 9-11 kilograms. In the north, most salmon left their birth rivers at three years old, while in the south, most left at two years old.
Traditionally, ascending salmon were categorized based on the time of their ascent into three groups: “kirsikala” (cherry fish), “kesäkala” (summer fish), and “jokkalo” (autumn fish). “Kirsikala” ascended at the beginning of June. The main target for large catches was “kesäkala,” which ascended between mid-June and the end of July, after the floodwaters had receded. “Jokkalo” ascended from the end of August to the end of September. Salmon were also given different names according to their size.
The oldest records of fishing in the Kemijoki and its estuaries reach back to the entire existence of the river, approximately 7,000-8,000 years ago, based on settlement and artifact discoveries. As the shoreline shifted, the dwelling places of this fishing-hunting-gathering population moved with it. These were apparently the ancestors of present-day Finns and Sámi people. Permanent village settlements existed in the area by the time of recorded history, influenced by the arrival of tax collectors and seasonal fishermen of West Finnish and Karelian descent. By the 1500s, a distinction gradually formed between the “lower inhabitants” and “upper inhabitants” along about a league of river downstream, which was evident in numerous disputes. These disputes were influenced by the intensification of fishing in the lower reaches, along with innovations. The lowest villages at that time included Lautiosaari, Liedakkala (Sihtuna), Hirmula, and Ilmoila, while the upper villages were Koroisniemi, Paakkola, Koivukylä, Jaatila, Muurola, Korkola, and Rovaniemi. This division was not always precise concerning the border villages (Ilmoila, Koroisniemi).
Before recorded history, the main fishing area was the lower reaches of the Kemijoki, especially the area where salmon began to migrate into the main current. Vallitunsaari has divided the river mouth in two, and although the definition of the river and sea boundary has varied, the island can generally be regarded as the true starting point of the current with its first weirs. Below this point, fishing is considered as sea fishing. The mouth area has been fed by the Kaakamojoki from the north. The mouth area below Vallitunsaari gradually developed into a salmon sanctuary during the Middle Ages, established by royal decisions based on old agreements. This sanctuary was ultimately confirmed in the salmon fishing regulations of Kemijoki known as the execution act in 1666, signed by Queen Hedvig Eleonora. This decision was a result of the disputes between the “upper and lower inhabitants,” which, however, continued. The fishing in the mouth area could not be completely restricted either.
By the 17th century, the established sea fishing area extended outward from Rastinsaari. Both lower and upper river fishermen operated at their traditional fishing sites, to which they had rights. The sea’s share of the salmon catch was not negligible, even one-third in the 1500s. The fishing area extended from the river mouth to Valkeakari in the southwest and Ajoskrunni in the south.
From the Middle Ages onward, the actual Kemijoki began at Vallitunsaari, from where the most productive river fishing occurred throughout historical time. The first ten kilometers between Vallitunsaari and Ilmolansaari produced an estimated half of the entire river’s salmon catch in the 17th century. Based on the division made in 1666, one half of the entire Kemijoki fishing community, or four weir communities, fished below Ilmolansaari, while the other half, the upper inhabitants, fished further up to Rovaniemi. Kemijärvi was outside the main salmon fishing area. The internal fishing arrangements reduced disputes and effectively ended the division between upper and lower inhabitants.
The history of fishing rights and ownership of fish waters in Kemijoki is a complex mix of customary legal practices and the tightening grip of state centralized governance. The definition “whoever owns the shore, owns the water” was established by King Maunu Ladonlukko in 1358, also concerning running waters. Another tradition was that the holder of private waters would give half of their catch to the landowner. A third tradition held that the state had the right to collect taxes from catches in broader fishing waters. This practice was followed by Karelian representatives of Novgorod in Kemijoki and later by Swedish kings starting from Gustav Vasa, who claimed the “king’s channel” in the river and thus half of the catch from that channel. Consequently, ownership of fishing waters became a significant point of contention, leading to later disputes and court cases.
The first tax collectors in the area were Swedish and later Karelian, until the area was consolidated under Swedish control, first ecclesiastically and ultimately politically (Treaty of Täyssinä in 1595). During the Swedish rule, tax collection followed the saying “the priest first, the crown soon after,” as noted by Kustaa Vilkuna. Bishops began to collect tithes on salmon in general, and various tax levies developed for bishop’s holy salmon, parish priests’ salmon tithes, and curates’ shares of salmon. The clergy had private salmon weirs on the Kemijoki, as did other rivers.
Swedish state taxation began in Kemijoki even before the formal incorporation of the area into the state, due to the area’s transition into the Swedish sphere of influence. In the interim, tax revenues had decreased due to ecclesiastical taxation and the arbitrary actions and illegalities of designated salmon lords. Continuous complaints from peasants regarding taxation led to the so-called Schedin Agreement in 1618. This agreement established an annual fixed tax on salmon fishing. According to the agreement, Kemi supplied 55 barrels (a barrel is 119 kg), Ii 45, and Oulu 35 barrels as annual tax quotas. The agreement stabilized salmon fishing and remained in effect for as long as 275 years, as it eliminated the tax disputes between the crown and the peasants. Both parties benefited: the peasants received the desired fixed tax quota, while the crown secured a regular annual income.
Disputes now shifted to a lower level, between the upper and lower river inhabitants and among the fishermen themselves. How should the catch be divided among the fishermen? The old personal fishing system based on individual rights was no longer applicable, especially since a new taxation arrangement, land tax, had been entirely adopted by 1608. This new arrangement was difficult because traditionally, catches, liabilities, and taxes had been divided according to men (jouset) or houses (savut) rather than according to land ownership. According to the authorities, the manttaali (tax unit) was to be directly applicable to salmon fishing. The so-called “salmon manttaali” emerged as a lifeline, which could be larger than the actual tax manttaali of the household and partially related to salmon fishing.
The peak of salmon fishing in Kemijoki likely occurred from the mid-19th century until the 1870s. From then on, state actions, initially through log floating and later in the form of hydropower, began to restrict fishing.
At the end of the 19th century, as a result of the breakthrough in forestry, logging and sawmilling became such powerful factors that this influenced the development of law and the limitation of salmon fishing rights from peasants. The oldest sawmills worked in tributary works, but in 1860-61 the first steam sawmill was built at the mouth of the river Laitakari, and in 1873-74 a much larger sawmill was built in Karihaara. The last mentioned lengthened swimming times and distances and already started to hinder fishing. In 1874, the sawmill owners got the senate to confirm the first rafting regulations on the Kemijoki with their floating times, which already limited the old annual catch quite a bit. In the floating rule of 1900, the floating times were again expanded and the authorities started to regulate the annual catch. Lease agreements were signed with the fisheries and the Chemical Company took over most of the private salmon fishing rights. The battle for fishing and swimming time kept getting tougher. In the 1900 fishing regulations, the fishing times were again extended and the authorities also started to regulate the annual catch. Lease agreements were concluded with the fisheries. Since 1904, Kemi’s crown fishing lease company leased the entire salmon fishery to the company every year. The ferry association started leasing fishing rights on its own terms to the new fishing municipalities created under the 1902 fishing law.
The chemical company took over most of the private salmon fishing rights, and the end result was that salmon fishing was practically transferred to the control of the ferry company in 1920. The last large dams were Korva dam (until 1932) and Kurinpato (until 1947).
The final end point for Kemijoki’s old salmon fishing came from the power industry. The construction of the Isohaara power plant in 1947 immediately downstream of the river sealed the salmon’s fate once and for all. This was preceded by the establishment of Pohjolan Voima Oy, formed by Yhytynein Papertehtäti and several other key limited companies, and its large-scale activity of buying shares in the valley. The time of crisis and the reduction of hydropower, especially due to the handover of Karelia, was favorable for construction and even for the granting of a permit immediately downstream of the river.
Geographically, fishing in its golden age extended from the sea fishing areas of Kemi’s Ajos and Maksniemi all the way to Rovaniemi’s Ylikylä. – So there could have been fishermen who traveled this entire 150 kilometer distance every year. How was fishing in Kemijoki used to be?
River fishing can be divided into dam fishing at permanent fishing sites, i.e. fishing with fixed equipment, fishing with mobile fishing gear and mobile fishing equipment. The first group includes different weirs, fixed nets and lines connected to the weirs, i.e. salmon nets and catching nets attached to weir devices (kicks, gillnets). Moving fishing gear has been lures and casts, net-like seines, and trawl nets (hauls, saaruat). The gill seines used in the large pens of the pen dams were also mobile fishing gear. Detachable hand fishing tools have been Lipot or Haavit and arinat or atraim. In sea fishing in the vicinity of the river mouth, the so-called for the “islands” and ina, nets (sea kicks, kick lines and katisko) and eventually also big gills. Which gear was used at any given time depended entirely on the annual behavior of the salmon. Kustaa Vilkuna has described this cultural-ecological adaptation to the annual rhythm in his writings.
Mature salmon rise from salt water to fresh river waters every spring to spawn. The salmon of Kemijoki, like our other northern rivers, appeared near the rivers when the flood rose. Salmon were caught in the sea areas of the mouth of the river with the aforementioned sea traps, the most productive sea fishing began with seine nets when the salmon began to move into the river itself. In the 19th century, as a novelty, this type of fishing was partly switched to isory, which spread from whitefish and herring to salmon.
In the spring and summer, short flood dams were built in the river with fishing gear, or in suitable places, an inan seine pulled to the shore or a cullen seine working outside was used. This spring seining was banned in 1837. In addition, during the flood, a drift net, or trawl net, could be used, although it was more of an autumn and summer fishing gear.
After the flood subsided, the real big catch started on the dams. The salmon moved to the middle of the river channel, and the famous big catches of Kemijoki, pen and lana dams were made for it. They came into use at the end of the Middle Ages at the latest, previously only smaller beach and kick dams had been used. Along with the dams, bottom-dwelling salmon were caught in the biggest rapids – as were whitefish later in the summer – with long-handled lures. At the end of July, gilt seining started again, when the salmon stayed in the backwaters beyond the reach of the dams, i.e. they moved back and forth in them. Kullepynti, and especially its beginning, was heavily regulated starting in the 17th century. It finally moved completely to August. In the Middle Ages, it could still be practiced throughout the summer in all suitable backwaters. As fall and summer dawned, the salmon began to stay more and more in their places, when drift nets, i.e. trawls, were put into use. Starting in the 18th century, seki fishing was regulated annually (25.8. -), and was limited to the eight kulke or dam municipalities established in 1666. In September, the salmon stopped moving and floundered in the wet places of the river, when standing nets, lazy ones, were lowered into these bottoms. Finally, when the salmon moved to their spawning grounds on shallow gravel bottoms in September-October, they could still be caught in large numbers with sturdy salmon trawls. Returning from Kudu, already slimmer and poorer in quality, the salmon could still be caught with currents, i.e. with roons.
The earliest historical information about dam fishing dates back to the end of the Middle Ages. The dams seem to have already had line and net catches as independent fishing parts. Lana as part of the dam catch came into use on the Swedish side in the 16th century. Karsinapato was also well-known already at that time, and as effective fishing devices lana and karsinapato occupied their own central role in Finnish fishing culture – in the words of one of our best experts, Eero Naskal (1993), they are even talking about the world’s largest wooden fishing devices of all time. The new dam devices just caused disputes and the need to agree on fishing arrangements “between the lower and upper inhabitants”. Kick net weirs and bank weirs with catching gear were already an earlier phenomenon, they were in use across the river even before those monumental pen and lana weirs. Of course, in different types of dams, independent net and grappling traps were used as applications.
On closer inspection, the special nature of dam fishing is revealed in how different types of dams followed the river’s currents and other conditions. According to the survey carried out in 1879-1870, 184 dams were marked on the maps of Kemijoki, which were divided by their quality into short spring dams, i.e. beach dams, lanada dams and large sluice dams. Tainiopato, which was a catfish-like, heavy wooden fishing gear used in fast currents or rapids, was apparently also used early on in Kemijoki. Shore dams were called flood dams or ear dams. Most of them had a line or a net kick as an independent fishing gear. Depending on the conditions, the dams extended from a few meters up to 40 meters from the river bank. Since the 17th century, private salmon dams have been an embarrassment to the state, which efforts were made to tax and regulate their use. An example of lana dams is the last dam built in 1947 on Tervola’s Koivu Könkää. The gear used to catch the dike wall was a lana, usually a three-ringed hook, the mouth of which was attached to a square wooden frame. On the other hand, an example of large dams is the Korva or Sihtuna dam that operated until the 1930s. By the way, the sluice dam is one of the few fishing facilities in the world, inside which fishing was done separately: salmon were only caught from the sluice on the dam wall with a culvert seine. Of the movable fishing gear, the kulle, or throw, was the most important, others were the drift net and the seine, or ina. Fishing with lures experienced its last boom at the end of the 19th century. Fishing with lazy nets, slip fishing and atrain fishing were part of the old Kemijoki annual repertoire. Lure fishing was also somewhat earlier, as folk-style “salmon traps” were used throughout historical time during the main fishing periods. The traditional spoon lure models made and used in Kemijoki later became known nationwide.
Life around the catch was diverse. The distribution of salmon catch had its own folk-like procedures within the fishing communities. The Viessa distribution method was used when distributing large catches, it was based on the equal distribution of equally large weighed fish lots. For smaller catches, division into piles of the same size, which were drawn, was often used. Huge quantities of wooden containers were needed to preserve and export the catch, larger wooden tubs were used to store the catch, and wooden barrels (14 levis/119 kg) were sold and exported for tax purposes. As makers of wooden vessels, e.g. people from Liminka who exchanged barrels for salmon. The oldest preservation methods, fermentation and smoking, largely gave way to salting, which became the main thing at the end of the Middle Ages.
The life of the fishing places also included annual celebrations, such as the salmon festival of fishermen and villagers as the main event of the fishing season and, for example, at the Korva dam, also the dam days. Visits by officials and the clergy were also a place of celebration. The catchers at the dam had their own salmon wages and naturally, during the catch, salmon was prepared by boiling and frying.
The marketing of fishing municipalities’ catches formed their own places. The oldest marketplaces were near churches. In Kemi, Haminasaari became like that around 1520 with the addition of the church. The place received its official market rights from Kustaa Vaasa in 1531, when the ports of Kemi, Oulu, Ii and Tornio became other licensed trading places on the coast of the Perämere. Kemi’s market was held in August at the earliest, but at the end of the Middle Ages it was probably the most important time of the whole salmon run. In the 17th century, they started at the end of June, and gradually efforts were made to regulate the duration. The catch, which was caught outside the market hours, was sold e.g. touring the provinces with trade.
So salmon provided sustenance at least every six months to the residents of Kemijokivarre, whom Kustaa Vilkuna called “salmon farmboys”. It required a whole series of gear adapted to the annual rhythm, an immense amount of community spirit and the skill of utilizing the catch. In the 17th-19th centuries, however, a big change took place as a whole as the grip of the central government strengthened and at the same time it limited traditional rights. Although the old disputes between the lower and upper reaches were settled, salmon fishing became the “crown fishery”, increasingly concentrated in certain large dam sites, especially as smaller-scale annual fishing experienced restrictions.
In the end, the new interests of the administration and the demands of economic life, swimming and the power economy at the forefront, revolutionized the utilization of the entire river at the end of the 19th century, and there was no place for the wild salmon population. In addition to Kemijoki, the salmon rivers Iijoki and Oulujoki in the north and Kokemäenjoki and Kymijoki in the south also experienced a similar development. Tornionjoki remained the largest of our free salmon rivers flowing into the Baltic Sea.