Kainuu Fisheries Research Station

NAME AND OWNER Kainuu Fisheries Research Station belongs to the Natural Resources Institute Finland. LOCATION The Kainuu research station is located ca. 320 km south of the Arctic circle, 135 km east of Oulu, 55 km west of Kajaani and approx. 120 km west from the Russian border. The station lies in the commune of Paltamo, Finland (64°24’17”N, 27°30’55”E) and is situated by the River Varisjoki which descends into the Lake Oulujärvi. BIODIVERSITY AND NATURAL ENVIRONMENT The natural  landscape of Kainuu is exceptionally diverse consisting of fells, forests, water areas and wetlands. Lake Oulujärvi (surface area 928 km2) is also known as Kainuu’s sea and is Finland’s fourth largest lake. The island of Manamansalo is situated in the centre of the lake and is a national recreational area. One of Finland’s highest untouched waterfall, with a height of 24 metres can be found in Puolanka (79 km). The nearest national parks are Rokua (75 km ), Hiidenportti (118 km) and Hossa (200 km).  The nature of the area attracts various fauna including  predators like  bears and wolfs. Fish species present in the area are (in alphabetical order) bleak, bream, brown trout, bullhead, burbot, crucian carp, dace, eel, salmon, minnow, nine-spined stickleback, northern pike, perch, pike-perch, roach, ruff, smelt, stone loach, vendace and whitefish. The continental and oceanic climates come together in Kainuu, which usually means dry, warm summers and cold snowy winters. Ice cover season lasts from early November until mid May. HISTORY AND FACILITIES The history of the Kainuu research station started when the aquaculture activities started in 1935. The main parts of the present station were built in 1994. Since 2002 the station was equipped with focus on experimental fish and aquatic ecology research. The station operates and is open for visitors throughout the year. The station has 14 beds, a laboratory, an auditorium, workshops and internet access. GENERAL RESEARCH AND DATABASES The station enables extensive possibilities to carry out ecological, environmental or management-related research in laboratory and semi natural scale experimental arenas. The research facilities include both indoor and outdoor set-ups of streams (12 + 6), indoor pools (144), outdoor pools (50) and combined stream-pool systems (40) with video arrays and PIT-telemetry devices for observing and monitoring purposes. Water (max 750 ls-1) for the streams and pools is taken from Lake Kivesjärvi (surface area 27 km2, mean water pH 6.7, oxygen 9.2 mgl-1, total P 17.0 ygl-1 and conductivity 3.5 mSm-1). HUMAN DIMENSION The commune of Paltamo, consists of villages. The  closest village with stores and services is called Paltamo and lies  16 km away from the station. There are about  3500 inhabitants in Paltamo and approx. 80000 in the whole Kainuu area. The main livelihoods are information and communication technologies together with electronics and businesses  linked to natural resources and tourism ACCESS The Kainuu research station can be reached by car, by bus or by train to Paltamo (16 km from the station) or by plane to Kajaani (62 km from the station) or Oulu (139 km from the station) year-round.