A new important salmon river is emerging on the eastern border, which Jasper Pääkkönen played a significant part in releasing. A similar population of lake salmon cannot be found elsewhere in Finland.
Kapea Hiitolanjoki is an important salmon river in Finland that used to be next to Tenojoki. It has been dammed for over a hundred years by three different dams, which is why the lake salmon rising from Laatoka have not been able to reach their ancient spawning grounds.
Now the return of the fish to their native areas is a little closer to being realized again, after one of the Hiitolanjoki dams has been dismantled.
Lahnasenkoski’s more than hundred-year-old hydroelectric dam is already the second dam that was dismantled as part of the restoration of Hiitolanjoki.
Lahnasenkoski’s old dam has been removed, and the unique rapids environment is also planned to be developed into a tourist and hiking destination.
Restoration to Laatokanloh
Work for the restoration of Hiitolanjoki has been done on a long-term basis since 2017, when the South Karelia recreation area foundation bought the Lahnasenkoski hydropower plant from the Hiitolanjoki vima company.
– The results are absolutely incredible, and the best thing is that they have been obtained immediately, says Pääkkönen, who visited Hiitolanjoe today.
Pääkkönen refers to the test fishing conducted this fall. In the second rapid of Hiitolanjoki, Kangaskoski, which has already been free for days of the year, the salmon population has been found to have recovered surprisingly quickly.
– The numbers obtained in Kangaskoski’s test fishing are a record level in Finland. Dismantling dams is a great way to restore endangered nature, because the effects are often visible very quickly, says Pääkkönen.
More: The lake trout rose to wait for the opening of the dam in Kangaskoski.
Hiitolanjoki is home to extremely endangered tile salmon and trout, which migrate to spawn from Laatoka in Russia to the Finnish side. There have only been dams on the Finnish side of the tens of kilometers long river. There are no dams in Russia.
Pääkkönen reminds that fishing is not the reason why stream waters are being restored.
– Primarily, the projects are carried out to save endangered stream water nature. Care must be taken that fishing does not cause any harm to these valuable fish stocks, says Pääkkönen.
Other species of fish can be fished on Hiitolanjo, but not salmon.
The restoration project of Hiitolanjoki has also received international recognition.
Hiking in rapids landscapes
Hiitolanjoki is 45 kilometers long, of which 8 kilometers are on the Finnish side. The rapids of the river are unique on the scale of southern Finland and a significant opportunity for tourism in the region.
People will also be able to enjoy the fruits of the restoration, as investments will be made in the area for camping and recreation.
– A bridge has already been completed for hikers at Lahnasenkoski, where you can admire the current. The fall height of the waterfall before the collapse was eight meters, says Ollikainen of the South Karelia recreation area foundation.
As part of the project, the area’s protected hydropower buildings will also be renovated, where museum and tourist activities are planned.
The result of cooperation
The fishing lanes that pass the Hiitolanjoki power plants have been hidden since the beginning of the 2000s.
In 2012, the Supreme Court ordered the Hiitolanjoki vima company, the then owner of the Kangaskoski and Ritolankoski power plants, to build fishways for migratory fish. The company delayed the start of the project with complaints to various parties, until finally in 2019 it was obliged to start construction work within a year.
After this, it started happening.
The South Karelia recreation area foundation bought the Hiitolanjoki hydropower plants and dams with the help of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and several private donations.
Kangaskoski was already visited by 4,700 people in the summer of 2022.
The surroundings of Lahnasenkoski will open to the public when the finishing works of the area are completed.