In 2018, professional fishing in Hjälmaren raised 71 tonnes of signal crayfish worth SEK 11 million (second most after Lake Vättern). In the same year, 153 tonnes of pike were fished to the value of SEK 11.6 million. In total, the catch of all commercial fishermen at Hjälmaren reached a value of SEK 25 million. Thus, two months of crayfish fishing yielded as much as 10 months of pike fishing.
- Now you work three times as much. At certain times of the year we cannot fish, when there are diatoms on the nets or when the bottom nets collapse so that there will be no fish in them. So cancer fishing is incredibly important, says Anna Wesper, professional fisherman at Hjälmaren.