In Lapland, the change would affect less than five establishments. The law will be tightened if the amendment prepared by the Ministry of Justice enters into force. The background to the proposal is the desire to revive stocks of migratory fish, mainly salmon.
If the Ministry of Justice’s proposal to amend the Water Act goes through, hydropower plants will have to carry out rehabilitation, fish planting or fish dams and pay fishing fees.
There is no precise list yet of which power plants will be affected by the reform
The tightening would apply to installations that do not yet have fishing obligations.
In total, there are reportedly no more than 140 zero obligation establishments in Finland. These are concentrated south of Lapland and include some decommissioned power plants.
However, according to Marttila, the entry into force of the provision would not directly lead to new obligations, but the matter of setting a new permit order would be handled as an application matter under the Water Act.
– There are also no provisions in the law regarding the timetable or the mutual order of institutions, according to which the license regulations of zero-obligation institutions should be revised, Marttila says.
Hydropower plants are owned by Lapissa Kemijoki oy, Pohjola vima and several municipally owned electricity companies.
It is reported about Kemijoki oy that it does not have any zero-obligation plant, which means that it would not be affected by the possible tightening of the Water Act with this proposal.
– Finland’s green transition and industrial investments require more control electricity to be realized. Otherwise, investments will go to other countries that are able to offer us a more reliable and safer operating environment in terms of asset protection, says Timonen.
Anyone can give their opinion online
The Ministry of Justice requests statements and feedback on the proposed amendment to the Water Act. The working group collects opinions about revising the Water Act online at sälutonpalvelu.fi until the end of May, and anyone can respond.
In addition, requests for opinions have been sent to 76 different entities, including ministries, authorities, interest organizations of energy producers, landowners and fishermen, nature conservation associations, provincial and municipal associations.
– The reform of the Water Act has been on the back burner for a long time, and it is a good thing that these fins are used to clarify this field as well, Jukka Viitala states.
However, in his opinion, the new obligations are not enough. With the reform, zero-obligation institutions would be assigned the same obligations as other institutions already have. Obligations may include fish planting, construction of a fishing road or a fishery fee.
In Viitala’s opinion, fish breeding should be focused on the top waters, i.e. Kemijoki and Ounasjoki, not just Kemijokisuu. Otherwise, the salmon don’t want to rise further north, because they naturally stay in their places of birth. Therefore, fishing is only possible in planting areas.
– The main thing is that fishing targeting the planting areas should be dismantled. It is not today’s fishing, especially when we are returning migratory fish to Kemijoki, Viitala states.
After the opinion round, the feedback is reviewed and it is assessed what kind of revisions the feedback gives rise to. The new board will decide on the continuation of the project.
The revision project of the Water Act was started by the already retired Sanna Marini government.