Go directly to contents.
Economic Development Centre

Registration of a vessel for commercial fishing

  • Permit or other obligation
  • Nationwide except the Åland Islands
  • Public service

A vessel must be registered before it can be used for commercial fishing.

In sea areas, vessels are registered in one of two groups depending on the vessel’s capacity:

  1. fishing vessels whose overall length is less than 12 metres (coastal vessels)
  2. fishing vessels whose overall length is more than 12 metres (deep-sea vessels).

The available register capacity is measured in gross tonnage (GT) ...

Do the following

Complete the printable form.

Submit the form and its attachments to the Economic Development Centre of Southwest Finland as an attachment to the general service form. The form and attachments can also be submitted by post, by email, or in person.

Information on all service channels is not available in your chosen language. Change the language of the site to receive information on service channels in other languages.

To whom and on what terms

Prerequisites for registering a fishing vessel are that the vessel is Finnish-owned and that there is sufficient capacity in the register for the vessel.

A fishing vessel may not be used for commercial fishing if it does not have a valid fishing licence with correct information.

The service is provided by

Economic Development Centre of Southwest Finland

Other responsible organisations

Economic Development Centre of Uusimaa, Economic Development Centre of Southeast Finland, Economic Development Centre of Northern Finland, Economic Development Centre of Inland Finland, Economic Development Centre of South Ostrobothnia, Economic Development Centre of Lapland, Economic Development Centre of Southwest Finland, Economic Development Centre of Ostrobothnia, Economic Development Centre of Eastern Finland, Economic Development Centre of Central Finland

Responsible for the service

Economic Development Centre
Text edited by: Economic Development Centre
Updated: 17/3/2026

Basic information

Information on fees

A fee is charged for the service.

The registration decision for a vessel and the fishing licence issued upon registration, as well as a change of the vessel’s licence holder (new fishing licence) or the vessel’s register tonnage (capacity), or a change of ownership of an inland waterway vessel, are services subject to a fee. Removal from the register is free of charge.

Area

Whole Finland (except Åland)

Available languages

Finnish, Swedish