Regional socio-economic importance of fisheries in Finland

The total value of Finnish fisheries production in 1997 was almost FIM 2 billion. The bulk of this sum was from processing and wholesaling, but in terms of value added, somewhat more than half was contributed by the primary sector, i.e. fishing and fish farming. In economic terms, fisheries accounted for 0.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 1997 and the relative job creation capacity was 0.15%. This paper examines the structure of Finnish fisheries in terms of production value and employment. It also considers the level of dependency on fisheries and of value added along the production chain. The focus is on concentration of the industry and on input to the economy at the regional level. The concentration of fisheries and regional dependence on fisheries are assessed in absolute and relative terms. Examining employment and value added in these two ways enables the regional nature of fisheries to be shown in greater detail. The input of fisheries to the regional economy is examined by the share of value added and by location quotients. The location quotient compares an area's share of a particular activity with that area's share of some basic or aggregated phenomenon. The location quotient showed that fisheries have importance not only in the coastal area but also inland.