6008 Kivijärvi

Permits needed for crayfishing

Crayfishing in this permit area always requires a crayfishing permit. You will also be required to pay the fisheries management fee, unless you are under 18 years of age, over 70 years of age, or are 65 years of age or older as of 31 December 2023.

Waters and area-specific restrictions in the permit area

The crayfihsing permit applies to state-owned waters. Please note that there may also be privately-owned waters on a single lake. Always check the map window or PDF map on this page to see which waters belong to the permit area.

Combating crayfish plague

One of the threats facing noble crayfish in Finland is crayfish plague, which is spread by signal crayfish. Preventing the spread of crayfish plague and protecting the indigenous noble crayfish involves all crayfishers.

Preventing the spread of the disease is simple:

1. Use only frozen bait or bait originating from the area where you are crayfishing.

2. Do not transfer crayfish to other water areas without the proper permit.

3. Only keep crayfish you have caught in the section of water where you caught them.

In some cases, there is a need to move trapping and fishing tackle from one water area to another. Moving tackle is only safe when the traps have been properly cleaned and disinfected in two steps:

1. First, thoroughly clean the traps with, for example, a pressure washer. Then fully dry the traps outside in the sun. This is the first phase of disinfection.

2. In the second phase, the traps are disinfected in one of the following two ways:

• Boil the traps for ten minutes.

• Submerge the traps for 30 minutes in a 4 % formalin or rectified spirit solution, with three parts rectified spirit (e.g. Sinol or Lasol) and one part water.

• Freeze at -20 degrees Celsius for at least two days. For example, trapping tackle should be stored in a cold and dry place during the winter.

• Dry in a sauna at +80 degrees Celsius for at least five hours.

If you suspect crayfish plague, refer to the instructions on the Crayfishing permit page.