That figure is based on sales of filleted fish, but the real figure could be two or three kilos more, because angling is the country's number one pastime and the catches that the fortunate bring home are not included in the statistics.
Fish is relatively inexpensive in Finland and people eat more of it than meat.
Naturally, the Finns themselves consider their fish the best in the world, but also many foreign visitors have come to the same conclusion. The fish that swim in the unpolluted lakes and brackish coastal waters are famous for their delicious taste. The most important species in terms of catch size is the Baltic herring, a cousin of the ones caught in the North Sea and Atlantic. When a herring swims in through the Danish straits, it becomes a Baltic one, which is usually smaller and has less fat than its Atlantic cousins. The Baltic herring is an ideal little fish that allows itself to be cooked and cured in many ways.