Winter seine fishing in Lake Puruvesi
| Winter seine fishing in Lake Puruvesi | ||||
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| In the national inventory | ||||
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The practitioners
The winter seine fishing tradition practised on Lake Puruvesi (416 km2) is undertaken by professional fishermen. Part of the fourth largest lake system in Europe, Saimaa, Puruvesi is located near the towns of Savonlinna (prev. Kerimäki and Punkaharju) and Kitee (prev. Kesälahti). Fishing operations are arranged through seining communes known as nuottakuntas, each of which forms part of the l
arger community of fishermen in Puruvesi region. Success in winter seine fishing is dependent on fishers knowing and being able to draw on an oral tradition that identifies and contains knowledge about hundreds of different fishing spots on the lake.
Today, about 20 seining communes practise seine fishing on Lake Puruvesi. Their primary catch, Puruvesi vendace (Coregonus albula), is famous for its light silvery colour and its soft bones. These traits are the result of Puruvesi’s characteristically transparent waters, which enable very effective primary production through photosynthesis.
Puruvesi’s waters are so clear that primary production takes place in both the lake’s surface waters and deep in the lower reaches of the water column across the lake’s extensive surface area. When it is light, vendace feed on the animal plankton near the bottom of the lake. As the amount of light decreases, the fish move up and feed on the organisms on the surface and in the middle water areas. The varied diet of Puruvesi vendace is thought to affect the tenderness of the fish and its short-term rigor mortis when caught. These characteristics have, at times, made it challenging to sell the fish, especially when small in size.
Practising the tradition
A key cultural characteristic of both winter and summer seine fishing is the concept of apaja: a plentiful spot for catching fish. Lake Puruvesi is a living map, divided into hundreds of these fishing spots, which can only be identified through personal engagement with oral histories, practice and hands-on experience. Many apaja names, as well as their locations and qualities, are not recorded in writing. Their existence can only be learned directly from someone who holds knowledge about them. Even the slightest mistake made in the process of finding and fishing these apaja may cause damage to the expensive seine nets and other equipment. The edges of the seine may get caught on underwater rocks or torn by ice formations.
Using their age-old and constantly renewed knowledge and expertise, Puruvesi seiners are able to land very significant catches. In 2008, for example, 400 tonnes of vendace was harvested from Lake Puruvesi. In some years, more than half of Finland’s entire vendace catch comes from Puruvesi.
Seine fishing at these levels of productivity in is made possible by the exceptionally clear waters of the lake. As a water body Lake Puruvesi is almost cut off from Lake Saimaa. Surrounded by gravel and sand beaches, it contains a very small amount of brown humus from soil compared to other Finnish lakes. Puruvesi’s crystal clear waters enable light to penetrate deep, up to 20 metres, into the lake. In other water bodies connected to Lake Saimaa light reaches a depth of only 10 metres in the water column on average.
Winter seine fishing on Lake Puruvesi is possible from the time the surface of the lake freezes over until the melting of the ice in spring. Climate change poses a significant threat to the practice and the health of the lake ecosystem, as it has decreased the duration and predictability of freeze and thaw ice patterns, shortening the seine fishing season.
Despite these challenges, the principles of seine fishing and the structure of the seine have remained remarkably intact throughout the centuries and, when ice conditions are good, are as effective today as ever. Today, the professional fishermen of Puruvesi maintain this unbroken tradition by continuing to utilise apaja fishing spots for seine fishing. Similar examples of such constant practice are difficult to find elsewhere in Finland. According to Professor Jukka Pennanen, some apaja, such as the location called winter grave, may date back to pre-historic times. Apaja names from historic times reflect the memories of professional and communal fishers from different periods of time.
Knowledge transfer between the fishermen and situational awareness are still passed on largely by word of mouth, shared at the fishing harbour before going seining. These spaces and the fishers who frequent them form a unique exchange mechanism for sharing peer data about weather, fish, ice and water conditions, the catch and other topics of relevance to the fishery.
Some snow and ice terms are unique to the Puruvesi region, reflecting the rich role local dialect plays in recording specialised local knowledge. Local names for Puruvesi, such as Kotaniemi (Goahti Peninsula) and Poroniemi (Reindeer Peninsula), are evidence of the Sámi society that once lived in and conferred names in the area.
The background and history of the tradition
The first records of seine fishing at Lake Puruvesi date back to the 14th Century. However, evidence exists to suggest that seine fishing as a regional tradition is far, far older. The Antrea fishing net, an artefact discovered by Sakari Pälsi on the Karelian isthmus, has been radiocarbon dated to more than 9,000 BP (Before Present).
According to tax records from 1543, the Swedish Crown collected taxes from 15 large seines and 404 small seines. It has also been reported that the castle masters of Olavinlinna sent seine communes to Lake Puruvesi to catch its tasty vendace. From the 14th to the 19th century, seine fishing on Lake Puruvesi was mostly a cultural or subsistence practice. Commercial fishing was undertaken as part of trade with Saint Petersburg and to supply crown monasteries, but was limited. Up until the 19th century, historical records suggest that the seine fishing culture in Puruvesi was similar to communal fishing efforts across the entire boreal zone.
Puruvesi’s fishing culture once included an epic singing tradition involving the creation and recitation of cosmological songs and incantations associated with natural systems in the boreal. Songs known as runo. Many runo songs, such as Tulen synty (The Birth of Fire) are related to seining. Linguist Elias Lönnrot’s (1802 - 1844) notes reveal that in Viena Karelia, rune singing played a central role in seine fishing in the olden days. In Puruvesi, the rune singing tradition came to an end in the 19th century.
Seine fishing in Puruvesi contributed to the creation of Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, published in 1828. Lönnrot, who compiled the epic, recorded intangible traditional knowledge related to seining and fishing from the Puruvesi region, interviewing runo singers including Juhana Kainulainen, who lived in Hummovaara and practised hunting and fishing, including seining.
From the 20th Century onwards, commercial fishing on Puruvesi grew in prevalence and importance. Despite this, professional fishing on Puruvesi has maintained its communal role. The names of the best fishing spots, anchored in age-old experience and local knowledge of lake conditions, remain at the heart of seine fishing. Puruvesi’s notable ability to produce large quantities of high quality vendace has preserved sustainable winter seine fishing and, at the same time, maintained a special culture despite some more meagre years in the 1980s and 1990s.
The transmission of the tradition
Puruvesi winter seining has, until now, been maintained through the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation. But as the fishermen of today grow older, commercial pressures increase and the aspirations of younger generations shift and change, this tradition is coming under threat.
Attempts to maintain the special, centuries old practice are underway. In recent years fishermen have taken school pupils onto the ice to learn about the tradition and have worked together with researchers and other stakeholders to share their knowledge. An EU-funded "master-apprentice program" has supported a handful of young practitioners to become professional fishers.
Puruvesi fishermen have also applied for and received the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) from the European Commission, to gain recognition and protection for the vendace and seining as a traditional, culturally-significant fishery. Products receiving a PGI label must have a special characteristic or reputation that connects them to a certain geographical area and at least one production process must be performed in this area. With regard to Puruvesi vendace, these special characteristics stem from the unique lake conditions; its clear water and scarceness of nutrients. The fame of Puruvesi fishing has grown over the centuries, and the production process required for its label of protected geographical indication is, of course, seine fishing itself. The European Commission granted Puruvesi vendace Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status on Finnish Independence Day, December 6th, 2013.
Between 2013 and 2026 the fishermen have consistently promoted seining and vendace in a number of European fora, such as Slow Food, Low Impact Fishers of Europe (LIFE), the World Expo in Milan, Anuga Food Fair in Cologne, CHERISH Cultural Heritage Project, and Snowchange Festivals of Northern Fishing Traditions.
The dynamic of passing on this tradition remains much the same: deeply connected to the continued practice of winter seine fishing and word of mouth. Wherever fishers meet on the harbour or with their families after a day on the ice, knowledge is exchanged quietly and without fuss.
The future of the tradition
The famous winter seine fishing on Lake Puruvesi and seining cultures on other Finnish waterbodies are highly endangered. There are very few new fishermen. The group of existing fishermen is aging rapidly. As a result, more and more largely unwritten traditional knowledge is at risk of being lost.
This potential loss is of national and international concern. Puruvesi seining’s significance extends far beyond the lakeshore, influencing fisheries and culture across the nation, including the creation of the Kalevala, Finland’s national epic. Puruvesi vendace, Puruveden muikku in Finnish, is an increasingly famous delicacy, protected by the EU's PGI label.
Since the 1990s the Lake Puruvesi seine fishery has become more technical. Modern technologies are of secondary importance, however. Embodied, communal knowledge about apaja, the special characteristics of the lake, weather patterns and nature still form the heart of the tradition and make winter seining possible. This means that the tradition will survive so long as there is ice and people to sustain it.
In 2020, a new seining crew consisting mostly young people below 35 years of age, was established. This new, young crew, led by a fisherwoman, is committed to maintaining Puruvesi’s knowledge and traditions.
The communities behind this submission
Tero and Kaisu Mustonen, Snowchange Cooperative
Auvo Pekkinen and Antti Pesonen, Puruveden kalasatama Cooperative
Bibliography and links to external sources of information
Documentary films on winter seine fishing by Snowchange Cooperative & PrettyGoodProductions. Short film, longer version.