Bringing Back Environmental Flows – The case of migratory fish and the lack of legal adaptivity in Finnish rivers.

• Considering significant normative inputs stemming especially from the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD), the article discusses possible legal avenues for restoring ecological flows in the built Finnish rivers. We argue that the current obligations stemming from the Finnish Water Law – and their interpretation in relation to migratory fish – are outdated and even legally problematic. Overall, neither the Finnish legislature, nor the Finnish water administration have reacted quickly enough to the changes in circumstances caused by the development of EU law, the declining importance of hydropower for the Finnish energy policy, and the current knowledge of the ecological importance of migratory fish species for the river ecosystems. Despite this, we argue that the Finnish Water Law already contains some tools for reviewing fisheries regulations in existing water permits, but also legislative changes are required to implement and to enforce the obligations stemming from the WFD.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Juridik -- Juridik och samhälle (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Law -- Law and Society (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Water permit system. Permit review. Restoring migratory fish. Water Framework Directive. Multi-level law.

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