Jussi Soppela – The Distinctive Features of Fishing Tourism on the Kola Peninsula

Fishing tourism for foreign customers got underway on the Kola Peninsula in the early 1990s immediately after the establishment of the Russian Federation. It was first directed at the well-known and more easily accessible salmon fishing rivers such as the Umba and the Varzuga. Word spread quickly amongst salmon anglers about the opportunities for fishing on the Kola Peninsula, and the popularity of fishing tourism on the Kola Peninsula grew. With the increase in demand, new river water systems were opened to meet the needs of fishing tourism and right from the outset, several foreign companies came along to join in the business because they had the necessary capital, know-how and contacts with customers. 

The fishing waters on the Kola Peninsula and the opportunities for fishing are nowadays well known among salmon anglers around the world. Thousands of foreign anglers, who bring badly needed foreign currency to the area, visit there each year. Travel costs are the decisive factor in selecting customers, in that those heading for the area are not deterred by the costs involved in pursuing their hobby and there are those for whom fishing is one of the most important things in their daily lives.

Fishing Tourism on the Kola Peninsula as Package Holidays

There are 17 principal salmon rivers in the area, seven of which are major and the remainder are good but smaller in size. If the smaller rivers and the branches of the main rivers are included, the total number of rivers on the peninsula that can be considered as salmon rivers amounts to 70. The major ones are the Charlovka, Jokanga, Ponoi, Varzina, Varzuga, Umba and Pacha; these days, most tourists visit the Ponoi, Varzina and Varzuga.

In practice, fishing tourism on the Kola Peninsula is fully organized by tour operators as a full-service package holiday in which customers generally spend 5-7 days with full board at a fishing camp. The price for a week’s holiday by a good river can cost as much as $8000 during the best angling season. Nevertheless, there seem to be enough customers, at least at the best-known destinations. The price of a holiday includes return flights usually from Helsinki to Murmansk, from where transport to the angling grounds is handled by helicopter.

Marketing Assets of Fishing Tourism

The Kola Peninsula has plenty of marketing assets – natural fish populations and wilderness conditions that elsewhere are becoming increasingly rare natural resources. Add to this a pinch of Russian culture and the tourism experience is well worth trying for those who can afford it. Fishing tourism in Russia has its own distinctive features that on the one hand attract tourists but on the other, many factors still prevent developing attractive tourism.

Attempts have been made to design fishing tourism products so that a customer does not need to suffer from long journeys on badly maintained roads; rather, journeys are mainly handled by air. In fact, there are no other means of getting to most fishing camps. A helicopter ride over an impenetrable wilderness is already an experience in itself. Once there, fishing takes place under the guidance of experienced guides and the customer can take a break from fishing by relaxing in the sauna or enjoying a delicious meal.

Ecological Sustainability of Fishing

In Russia, the ecological sustainability of sport fishing is handled by calculating the fish populations in the major salmon rivers annually. This information is used as the basis to determine the fishing seasons and quotas for each season specifically for each river. Calculating the fish populations in the Murmansk region is handled by the PINRO research institute. The annual fishing quota is approved by the Ministry and the fishing supervisory organization, MurmanRibVod in the Murmansk region, is accountable for ensuring the regulations are observed in practice at the regional level. 

Fishing tourism in the area is also supervised by the Murmansk regional tourism and sport fishing committee whose duty it is to supervise the quality of company operations and that the regulations regarding bookkeeping and other documents are complied with.  

Foreign anglers may not take their salmon catches with them; rather, fishing is based on the catch & release principle, where the fish is released immediately with the intention of causing it as little harm as possible. Regulations concerning keeping fish catches and their export prevent taking fish out of Russia. It is possible for Russian anglers to take their catches with them, but they must buy a new permit. Thus, in principle, salmon angling has little impact on the fish population in a river – at least in those areas where foreigners fish. However, there are a few examples in the region of what can happen if a river is over-fished.

The fish stocks in the neighbourhood of population centres such as in the Kola River near Murmansk and in the Kolvitsa River near Kandalaksha have dramatically declined as a consequence of poaching. From the point of view of ecological sustainability, the worst problem at the moment is in the Umba River where over the past ten years the salmon population has dropped to a fraction of what it was. The reason is not fishing tourism – although the river has been a constant favourite of sport anglers – but poaching by the local population, which has become a small scale source of livelihood in the locality. The rate of unemployment in the municipal centre of Umba is about 90%, so there are clear social grounds for poaching. The situation is made worse by the fact that poor but drivable roads go along the banks of the Umba River, so almost the whole river is reasonably accessible.

Although fishing tourism based on salmon fishing is still relatively new on the Kola Peninsula, it is probably nevertheless more developed than at the other fishing tourism destinations in Russia. For example, there are corresponding opportunities in the Archangel region but making the fishing destinations into a product has not advanced as much as it has on the Kola Peninsula.

Fishing tourists in Russia need to be prepared for the effects of Russian culture during their visits. These effects are seen in drawn out itineraries and in the level of quality, which is not perhaps quite what wealthy customers are used to. Local actors, who suffered from a shortage of capital during the initial stages, have over the years become wealthy and there are also signs that foreign companies, upon whose operations fishing tourism in the region is still largely based, will perhaps at some stage pull out of their operations and concentrate only on marketing and acquiring new customers.

Jussi Soppela
M.Sc., Agriculture and Forestry