Leasing fishing rights

Metsähallitus may, at its own discretion, lease the fishing rights of its water areas to private individuals, organisations or companies. In most cases, the leased site is a small pond or lake, and fishing water management is the basis for the lease. Fishing lease agreements are always drawn up for a fixed term of no more than 10 years.

A fishing lease customer typically leases a water body to stock whitefish. Another general reason for leasing is to harmonise the management of water areas, in which case, for example, a joint owner or other owner of a water area leases a water body in a state-owned water area administered by Metsähallitus. This makes it easier to uniformly manage the entire water area and organise fishing so that it supports setting a target for the production and use of fishing waters. In some cases, the lessee may be, for example, a fishing tourism operator, in which case the reason for leasing is to offer private fishing events to fishing customers or provide organised fishing services at the site.

Leasing rules

Leasing fishing rights is governed by the Fishing Act. The management of leased waters is determined by the management and use plans of fisheries areas. In accordance with the standard terms and conditions of Metsähallitus fishing lease agreements, stocking is permitted for fish species and stocks that have been defined and approved in the management plans for fisheries areas. Therefore, the lessee should familiarise themselves with the use and management plan of the fisheries area in which the leased site is located. In addition, the standard terms and conditions include an obligation to maintain cleanliness at the site to be leased. 

In addition to the fishing right, the fishing lease agreement does not grant any other rights to use or access the site. Permits for off-road traffic or any necessary structures must always be applied for separately. However, the lessee has the right to keep a locked outfitting box, a boat roller ramp and a firepit made of stacked natural stones at the shore of their leased water site. The fishing lease agreement also does not give the right to close off water bodies with fish barriers or similar structures. 

Metsähallitus monitors the implementation of permit terms and conditions for fishing leased sites in connection with field visits and wilderness supervision. 

Different forms of leasing

A lease agreement may be drawn up as an agreement granting full fishing rights or restricted fishing rights. 

In the lease agreements granting full fishing rights, the lessee is allowed to use lure and trap fishing, but outsiders retain their general fishing rights, i.e. they are permitted to fish with a hook and line or ice fish free of charge or permitted to fish with a lure and one rod after paying the fisheries management fee. However, this type of lease allows the lessee to apply to the local ELY Centre to impose a prohibition on angling, ice fishing and lure fishing, in which case fishing in the water area may only be done with the lessee’s consent.

In the lease agreements granting limited fishing rights, the lessee is allowed to fish with lures and traps free of charge, but outsiders are permitted to angle or ice fish free of charge, to fish with a lure with one rod after paying the fisheries management fee or to lure fish with several rods after buying an additional Metsähallitus angling permit. In this type of lease, the lessee may not apply to the ELY Centre to impose a prohibition on angling, ice fishing and lure fishing.

The basic price for leasing fishing waters less than 4 hectares in area is €90/year + VAT 25.5%. There are two categories in the pricing of additional hectares, and discretion may be used in determining the price, taking into account the fisheries value of the water area:

Leasing with full fishing rights: 

• Additional hectares 4-20 ha 10-30 €/ha/year + VAT 25.5%. 
• Additional hectares over 20 ha 0.2-5 €/ha/year + VAT 25.5%.  

Leasing with restricted fishing rights: 

• Additional hectares 4-20 ha 8-12 €/ha/year + VAT 25.5%. 
• Additional hectares over 20 ha 0.2-5 €/ha/year + VAT 25.5%. 

Agreements and advice

If you are interested in leasing fishing rights, you can use the Excursionmap.fi service to conduct a preliminary investigation on your own. Fishing lease agreements are only concluded for use in state-owned multiple-use forests. You can check the appropriate areas in the Excursionmap.fi service by selecting "Multiple-use forests of forestry" as the map layer. Protected areas and sites bordering protected areas are not leased.  

For more information, contact kalastusvuokra(at)metsa.fi.

Questions related to existing agreements are to be addressed to the agreement contact persons.