Promoting responsibly sourced fish

Fish wholesale company Arvo Kokkonen Oy values responsibly sourced fish and marine wellbeing above all else. Arvo Kokkonen Oy’s representatives attended m/s Finlandia’s Nordic Tastes at the Baltic Sea Academy to tell passengers about responsible fishing and fish products.

– All of our production is based on the slogan "Marine wellbeing is our lifeblood", sums up sales director Markus Hännikäinen.

Arvo Kokkonen Oy primarily imports, processes and supplies fish and shellfish. The company also carries out marketing and its product range features around 2,000 products. Eckerö Line has cooperated closely with Arvo Kokkonen Oy since 2017.

Responsibility begins with practical action. Some years ago, Arvo Kokkonen Oy took part in a WWF campaign “When the scales fell from our eyes”, which aimed for only sustainably caught and farmed fish products to be sold on the Finnish market. Arvo Kokkonen Oy achieved good results, with around 97% of their 2,000 fish products being sustainably caught or farmed fish and shellfish products.

A project to save the Baltic Sea and recover fish stocks, led by Arvo Kokkonen Oy’s wild fish and seafood specialist Klaus Berglund, has produced plenty of good results. Fishing to remove bream has helped to revive and clarify bottom waters and clear algal blooms.

– Bream are no longer eating all of the bottom dwellers and animal plankton, which are important as they feed on the algae. If no algae eaters are left on the seabed, algal blooms will be left to cause a lack of oxygen and other adverse effects, causing the seabed to die off,  explains wild fish and seafood specialist, Klaus Berglund.

Berglund’s team noticed that bottom dwellers began to thrive when bream and roach were removed; the water became clearer immediately and there was no blue-green algae growth. As the numbers of bream decreased, whitefish and flounder took their place, and perch thrived.

– It is extremely sad that commercially valuable fish stocks are continuously shrinking in some areas. Although the sea is clearer and there are fewer nutrients, commercially valuable fish stocks simply aren’t doing well, Berglund explains.

The decrease in commercially valuable fish stocks is caused by a range of factors, with humans playing a surprisingly minor role. Seal and great cormorant populations have grown, which contributes greatly to the reduction in commercially valuable fish stocks.

Everyone can help to promote sustainable fish production through their own choices and consumer behaviour. The most effective action we at home can take to help the environment is to eat as much Finnish fish from the Baltic Sea as possible, particularly bream and roach. There are already plenty of great roach fish products in stores.

– The next time you head to the fish counter, ask for roach or ide and try curing or cooking it! There are countless ways to cook fish, and it’s both easy and fun, Berglund says.

Nowadays people want to eat healthily, and the demand for wild fish is constantly increasing. Berglund believes that our idea of locally sourced fish needs to change and extend to the waters around northern Norway, where responsibly sourced wild fish can be caught and make its way to a Finn’s plate in just 24 hours.

Berglund believes in a better future in responsible fish production, since people are becoming more and more informed, and we are beginning to respond to issues. Consumer habits are also changing for the better at a municipal level, with many schools replacing foreign saithe with Finnish roach and bream, for example.

M/s Finlandia’s passengers thanked the speakers for their interesting talks at the academy.

– I already knew some of the information, but I also learnt something new, says passenger Claudia.

Esa was already familiar with the decrease in commercially valuable fish stocks due to the experiences of his friend, who is a fisherman. Passenger Eeva went away with a guide on preparing fish, which she hopes will help her to prepare bony fish. The roe book also attracted interest;

– Vendace roe is by far the best, but cold-smoked pike roe definitely sounds like something I’d love to try,” says passenger Leena.

Eckerö Line welcomes passengers to Buffet Eckerö to taste Arvo Kokkonen Oy’s fantastic fish products for themselves!

The lecture was held in May 2019.