Merikarvianjoki – elämysten ja toimeentulon virta
Keywords:
the river Merikarvianjoki, ecosystem services, fishing tourism, experience, ethnographyAbstract
Gone fishing: Doing and undergoing cultural ecosystem services on the river MerikarvianjokiNature-based tourism is not a small deal. Rural municipalities have recognized the potential of tourism to rural livelihoods and economic opportunities. Our case is Merikarvia and the tourism potential of the river that runs through it and the archipelago and the coastal waters around it. Merikarvia, SW Finland, has a professional fishing history that runs centuries back. Before the Second World War the river was already a popular fishing tourism destination. The river regained its popularity in the 1980’s and the local entrepreneurs started a purposeful development of the reproductive potential of natural salmon populations. Simultaneously, the conditions of professional fishing declined dramatically. In 1990, three fishery collectives (waters owners) established a non-profit firm the Kalakierros, which sells fishing licenses to the river area (26 km) of which 12 km is suitable for fly fishing. The fly fishers have started to perceive it as a genuine river of trout and salmon. In this article, we apply a pragmatist sense ethnographic view to cultural ecosystem services and study the potential of the fishing tourism in the Merikarvia area. We develop a new approach to understand fishing experience as a bodily cultural commodity.
