Fig. 13

A catch of smelt in plastic boxes, Forshaga, Värmland. On peak nights and at the right moments, each move with the net can yield dozens of fish and, in just a few hours, dozens of kilos. These nights and moments are, however, rather few and for most fishers, it is more often a question of catching none or a few smelt. Local fishing rules, as adopted by the private land and fishing rights owners, allow only for “household” smelt catches by the public without fishing permits. Traditionally, rich catches from a few evenings of fishing are shared in the villages along the river Klarälven. However, the emerging smelt-fishing tourism means that some large loads of smelt are being transported to neighboring countries and sometimes sold using social media as a market place, e.g., Facebook. Some local people question whether the generous fishing rules can be maintained (photo Armas Jäppinen, 2019)