Response to interpellation 2024/25:443 on the future of the sea trout in the Dalälven
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the future of sea trout in the Dalälven and the lack of funding for compensation stocking of salmon and trout. KD argues that the issue is complex as it is linked to environmental conditions and agreements for hydropower production 1. KD emphasizes that authorities are discussing solutions and that the government is following the work while simultaneously considering other possibilities 2. KD takes the risks to the ecosystem and the economy seriously and shares the assessment that it is important to secure the conditions for continued stocking 3. S argues that the sea trout risks disappearing if the funding is not secured before March 31 4. S emphasizes that it is crucial that compensation farming continues until natural reproduction is secured 4. S argues that a reduced stocking has serious ecological consequences and threatens local jobs 5. S considers that the issue is also about a cultural heritage 6.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! Sanne Lennström has asked me if I and the government intend to act to save the fish stocks in accordance with Älvkarleby municipality's joint letter.
Älvkarleby municipality has submitted a petition to the government regarding securing the future for sea trout in the Dalälven. In its petition, the municipality urges the government to take measures to create economic and organizational conditions for continued compensatory release of salmon and trout.
The question is complex. Even though the consequences can most clearly be described for the compensation areas for salmon and trout with the associated fishing that utilizes the species, the question is linked to the environmental conditions and agreements that follow from the permits for hydropower production.
The Government is aware that the water fund, the Lanfors-Untran Fund, which was created after a state settlement with hydropower companies in the lower Dalälven in 1986, has run out of funds. Since the dissolution of the Swedish Agency for Fisheries in 2011, the Älvkarleby research station has been transferred to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences but has not been used for research to any greater extent.
The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management is responsible for the management of salmon and trout. The agency has previously administered the Lanfors-Untran fund, but it has been handed over to the County Administrative Board in Uppsala County. The authorities have had annual agreements with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, which has been responsible for the operations in Älvkarleby with breeding and release of smolt every year.
Since the problem regarding the continued financing has been noticed, the question of how it should be handled has been discussed between authorities and stakeholders. The County Administrative Boards in Uppsala County and Dalarna County have been very active in, together with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, finding a solution to the decommissioning issue by investigating and finding other financing possibilities that can be used until the national plan for the review of hydropower, NAP, has been implemented.
The County Administrative Board of Dalarna County has simultaneously requested the relevant hydropower companies to clarify the previously reported plan for how the companies ensure that a sufficient amount of smolt of salmon and sea trout can be provided in accordance with the conditions in the current permits.
The Government is following the progress of the work that the authorities have begun regarding finding financing opportunities and is also reviewing possible measures in parallel with this.
Sanne Lennström (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer and for today's debate.
All parties in Älvkarleby have submitted a petition to the government regarding securing the future for the sea trout in Dalälven. When I wrote my interpellation, the municipality had not received a response from the government, and that gave me reason to raise the issue to the government in another way, hence today's interpellation debate.
Salmon and sea trout have been farmed in Älvkarleby for over 70 years. The fish have been released by SLU in Dalälven as a kind of compensation because hydropower has caused the original and natural migration routes and spawning grounds to no longer function. Through these measures, fishing has been able to persist, but today the recapture of sea trout is less than 0.5 percent. This can be compared with 20 percent 60–70 years ago. The farming is nevertheless crucial for both the sport fishers and tourism in the area.
Right now, the operations are threatened by closure, and this is rooted in a lack of funding. No actor – neither power companies nor authorities – wants to be responsible for the continued release of fish. This means that the sea trout and the salmon risk disappearing from the Dalälven. This would have serious consequences for both the ecosystem and the local economy.
This is about ensuring Dalälven's conditions to have a good fish stock even in the future. The compensation cultivation needs to be allowed to continue until the natural stock can recover. The ongoing decommissioning of the cultivation is now being carried out in the wrong order; without functional migration routes, this fish will not reproduce on its own.
A review of the conditions for hydropower in the Dalälven will take place in 2026. There is a hope that fish passages will be built, but it is far from finished. While this is happening, the compensation measures must continue if we want to preserve the stocks.
Älvkarleby municipality has clarified in its letter that it is absolutely crucial that the economic and organizational prerequisites for the compensation payment are ensured. All involved actors must now take responsibility for the Dalälven fish stocks but also for the future of local sport fishing.
In light of the above, the politicians of Älvkarleby municipality want the government to act immediately to create the economic and organizational conditions for continued compensation release of salmon and sea trout in Älvkarleby. This needs to occur until natural reproduction of viable stocks is secured.
Madam Speaker! In short, there was a previous plan for how compensatory removals would be financed so that the fish stocks in Dalälven and in Älvkarleby would survive despite Fortum's operations. Now, the situation is instead unclear and complex, which the Minister also describes.
I have requested this debate because the politicians in Älvkarleby and those who live there deserve an answer, as the whole thing is creating a great deal of concern. Something must be done before the national plan for the review of hydropower, NAP, has been implemented. If the funding is not secured before March 31, SLU's operations in Älvkarleby will be shut down.
As I have understood it, it is about 1 million kronor. Who is responsible for finding a solution is extremely unclear. Can I interpret the Minister's answer as that it is HaV that is responsible? Time is running out. Who is responsible for finding 1 million kronor before March 31? Who should Älvkarleby turn to? I and the municipality would be very grateful if we receive a clear answer tonight regarding the question of responsibility.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! As I mentioned in my opening remarks, the government is aware of the problems that have arisen as a result of the lack of funding. The background is clear at this point. The fund resources are almost exhausted. The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management has been responsible for the fund resources since the Swedish Fisheries Agency ceased in 2011. The responsibility for the research station was moved from the Swedish Fisheries Agency to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Therefore, the question becomes quite complex, but I can assure you that it is currently being discussed by authorities and stakeholders.
The authorities have had recurring conversations with the hydropower company to avoid negative effects until the national plan for modern environmental conditions for hydropower has been implemented in Dalälven. It is also for that reason that work is underway to find a solution to the decommissioning issue until the national plan for the reassessment of hydropower has been implemented.
I cannot promise that the authorities will find such a solution. Therefore, the government is working actively and in parallel to review other possibilities.
Sanne Lennström (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer. It still sounds good that discussions are ongoing and that the government sees that it has a responsibility to follow the process. We must hope that it becomes a swift and efficient conversation and that, hopefully, a solution will be reached because, as was said, time is running out.
When SLU phases out its compensation cultivation, we will see a significantly smaller amount of fish in the Dalälven. The fish have a natural reproduction, but it is incredibly limited due to the hydroelectric dams. The stocks can be severely weakened within just a couple of years. It will therefore go downhill very quickly if nothing is done about this now. Furthermore, the Dalälven's salmon and sea trout are adapted to the river. They have a very strong homing instinct. The fish return to their birthplace to spawn, but if fewer fish of this kind are released, fewer fish will also return. Such a situation would be particularly worrying regarding the sea trout, as it already has a low number of spawning fish.
Rules that shall ensure migration routes for this type of activity are on the way. For over a hundred years, the dalälv salmon and dalälv trout have been kept vital. With history in the background, it would be very sad if we threw away several generations' work just a couple of years before the opening of migration routes becomes a reality, which would be the case if the cultivation were to suddenly cease.
In addition to the impact on fishing tourism, a reduced catch will have ecological consequences, according to SLU. If the salmon and sea trout disappear or decrease radically, it will have effects on fish species, birds, mammals, bottom-dwelling animals, plankton, and vegetation. Furthermore, three people work at the fishing station who, according to information, risk being left without jobs if nothing is done.
All parties see this, and I therefore implore the government to see the problem.
I have brought with me a note with contact details for Älvkarleby municipality. I thought it might be appropriate to ask a question that does not require an investigation or long conversations. It concerns an invitation to visit Älvkarleby municipality. Just as the Minister mentions, the issue is very complex. Therefore, it could be good to have a visit so that one can discuss who has released smolt, how much has been released, when and why it has occurred, and which agreement and which judgment regulates the whole thing. The Minister is warmly welcome to Älvkarleby to learn more about this and to follow up on the conversation more closely.
This is very important. The million that is potentially needed is not needed forever, but it is needed now. Time runs out on March 31, and that is very soon.
My next question is therefore natural: Does the Minister wish to visit Älvkarleby to address the issue?
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Madam Speaker! I certainly want to visit Älvkarleby, not least because the research station located there has a long history. The station has previously conducted research but is today used largely as an aquaculture facility to produce sea trout and salmon that are released into the river as compensation.
I received the municipal representatives' letter at the beginning of February and can say that I take seriously the risks the municipality raises regarding the importance of sea trout and salmon for the fishing stakeholders, the ecosystem, and the local economy.
I certainly have the right to say this, as I grew up a stone's throw from Forshagaforsen in Klarälven and therefore know well the importance of a living fishery. I have spent countless hours in waders there.
We share the assessment that it is important to be able to secure economic and organizational conditions for continued compensation release of sea trout until natural reproduction of viable stocks is secured. It is the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management that is responsible for the management of salmon and trout, and these are, as mentioned, issues that our agencies are currently discussing. In parallel, however, the government is following this closely.
Sanne Lennström (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for his answer and commitment.
If SLU releases the last sea trout now, the species will potentially be gone from the Dalälven within five to six years. The situation is therefore serious. Älvkarleby municipality feels very alone in the process of who should take responsibility, and therefore it is positive that the Minister highlights the government's responsibility to coordinate the agencies and conduct dialogues. I repeat that time is very short. The sport fishermen argue that if the last sea trout were released now, it wouldn't even be a fisherman who would catch the last sea trout, but a seal would probably eat it.
There are further problems to discuss in fisheries issues, but this issue lies very close to the heart of the small municipality of Älvkarleby. I assert that this actually is also a matter of cultural heritage.
I thank you for the debate and hand over the contact details so that we can make the Minister's visit to Älvkarleby a reality.
Landsbygdsministern Peter Kullgren (KD)
Mr. Speaker! I also thank you for a good discussion. I gladly accept the note and will carry out a visit to Älvkarleby.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.