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While household rights of property on fishing and hunting places were developing, and Russian manufacturers and monks were interfering into the Saami`s industrial places, re-allotments of land became more difficult. At the same time the population of graveyards was being changed, divided or increased while the exploration or scarcity of water basins, the development of marital relations (for example, moving to the father`s-in-law house) and so on. Finally, the Saami had to go to their "summer places" which were situated 100-200 km from the settlement, notwithstanding the fact that not very far there were water basins full of fish.

Fishery is a more ancient occupation of the Kola Saami than reindeer-breeding. Numerous archeological finds (sinkers, rods made of bones found in excavations) tell us about the presence of fishery and even nets in the early Neolithic period. It`s not accidental fish catching but systematic fishery that was based on the used famous equipment.

The biggest fishing basins are the Imandra, the Umbozero, the Kolvitskoje, the Lovozero, the Notozero, the Pirengskoje, the Upper and the Lower Jenozero. The main fishing rivers are: the Tuloma, the Teriberka, the Voronya, the Iokan`ga, the Ponoi, the Varzuga, the Umba. The most important industrial fish of the Kola Peninsula caught by the Saami are salmon (lus) - mainly in the estuaries of the enumerated rivers, gulfs and bays, cod (torek), flatfish (kampel`), halibut (paltos) and haddock in a small quantity. The Saami catch whitefish, perch, pike, grayling, salmon-trout, loach, burbot and roach.

Fourteen rivers where the Saami could catch salmon with "fences" and "zakoly" were enumerated in the printed list of the Arkhangelsk province dated by 1870. With the development of colonization after 1880 the Saami lost many salmon fishing places.

Fishing places as well as hunting places were distributed among the families within the settlements. Although, every head of the family could practically use any part of his land plot (allotment), one part was considered to be a reserve. But when a son grew older he got this reserve land plot (kuddas) into his family`s ownership. But the son didn`t have to leave the family. The father and his adult son with his family could live together in one vezha and go fishing in the same lake, but the society couldn`t count on getting a half of this land plot. The society gave free land plots and water basins left after the death or migration of male housekeepers to the following generations. A kuddas included fishing places (toni) on large lakes, from one to three small lakes, a small river and fishing places on a large river, a mowing and a hunting place.

Notwithstanding the large quantity of water basins full of various fish, lake and sea fishery of the Saami had a rather primitive and stagnant character and allowed them only to make both ends meet without providing any economy growth.

Fishing vessels of the Saami used on lakes and seacoasts are simple. Boats with two oars (vens) are widely spread, they are very light and stable, 6-8 meters long and 1-1,5 meters wide. People used boats of great size in sea bays and river estuaries, but they seldom used boats larger than with four oars. Earlier the Saami`s boats were famous for their lightness and stability.

The equipment of the Saami`s boats consisted of oars fastened to the wooden rowlock with a rope, a strait sail, a mast and a steering wheel. Some fishermen put a windlass on the boat so that it was more convenient to pull the seine up with a great capture. Every head of the family had not more than three boats, the poor had often only one boat.

The Saami made stockfish for themselves for winter. The Saami couldn`t sell the fish caught during summer on the market because they didn`t have salt and were not able to salt fish. They could use it as a good for trading only in autumn, when frosts began during a short period of under ice catching.

The Saami lived in winter settlements in December, January, February and March, they were hunting, transporting goods and only in March they were occupied with under ice catching of burbot. Starting from March they began to prepare for moving to the lakes or salmon fishing places ("summer places") - kisvojkh.

From the middle of April the Saami began to store the packing, salt, resin, provision and fishing tackles in the "summer places". At the beginning of May a long string of sledges left the "winter places". Houses, tupy and vezhy stayed empty till the late autumn. Rajda (the name of a string of sledges drawn by reindeer) covered 10-15 km in fine weather. When families came to the lakes they settled, one or two together, in vezhy situated in their fishing places and waited for the ice to smelt on the lakes, while repairing and painting fishing tackles, resining boats, repairing summer dwellings - vezhy.

When the ice smelted on the lakes and the shores, the spawning of pike and perch began (from the 1st till the 20th of June). Spawning pike and perch were seined, harpooned and fired with a gun. The nets chosen were very strong and they were put in three rows so that to block up the grass bays. The spawning of perch, which entered the flooded grass shores and was caught at once, went on at the same period. After spawning only weak women and children could seine fish in a little amount, the fishermen seined till the late autumn. They seined whitefish, pike, perch, grayling and roach. Starting from August the nights were getting darker and whitefish described by the Saami as careful began to get into nets. Therefore from August the Saami went fishing with the help of nets and seines. At the end of August salmon trout began to get into nets. During this period it moved to spawn to the lakes where quick rivers flew into. The Saami who owned the river mouths blocked up their entrances with nets, as well as the isthmuses of the connected lakes. So they got a large catch of salmon. At the beginning of September there was the spawning of loach and palia which were also caught with nets.

In October when the ice was getting strong enough to bear a man, the Saami began under ice catch. They made a square ice hole (kol`te) 3x3 meters, put a seine into it, then they fastened seines with long poles (volkh) by ropes and stretch the poles through the ice holes under the ice.

If there were fish lakes not far from the settlement, some Saami made ice holes and put nets under the ice during the whole winter. They checked them once during 1,5-2 weeks. The catch at that time was not large, it consisted mostly of whitefish and burbot. Also they caught pike in winter with the help of special hooks but in small amount.

At the second part of March burbot spawned well, gathering under the ice in sandy places known to the experienced Saami. Burbot was caught well with a hook. The catching of it didn`t last more than 7-8 days.

Spring catch of salmon began from the end of May and continued till the middle of July. Autumn catch began from the 15th of August and continued till October.

Fishery as well as reindeer-breeding being one of the most important branches of economy, was reflected in the Saami`s religious beliefs and their folklore.

There was mentioning about fishing Seids (Gods) who granted a rich catch or acted vice versa when they were angry. The Saami sacrificed codliver oil to fishing Seids. We can see numerous sacred Seids-stones near the lakes of the Kola Peninsula. There are still legends about Seids` appearing in the memory of old people. According to stories Seids were people who turned into stones under the influence of witchcraft. And not only people but also animals turned into stones because of man`s interference into magic affairs.

According to the legends not only magicians and people who frightened them turned into stones but also the enemies of the Saami (chud`) when there was no way out. Usually the legend was connected with the appearance of Seids and tried to describe them: a man in kan`ga, a grandmother with her granddaughter, or a mother with her children, a stoned trunk or a beast, etc. You ought not to make noise and quarrel near the Seids. Otherwise "the old man" or "the old woman" might be angry and not to give any fish, send bad weather to the lake, even punish the fisherman with a hard disease or even death. Some legends connected with fishing contained instructive elements. "An old man-nojd was fishing with his daughter-in-law in the lake Kalozhnoe. They wanted to catch more. The old man said to his daughter-in-law: "I will drink all the water from the lake and you should gather the largest fish from the bottom." Then the old man drank the water and the daughter-in-law began to gather the largest fish. She gathered a bag (karbas) full of fish. The old man said: "I can`t hold the water anymore". But the daughter-in-law didn`t obey him, she was greedy and wanted to pick one more fish. The old man couldn`t hold the water any longer and let it out to the lake." In this case the greediness is the vice which should be punished.

Avoiding of noise and quarreling are the qualities which the Saami - hunters and fishermen - appreciated to a great degree. Every Seid also valued these qualities and he can punish cruelly those who didn`t behave according to the Seids` rules. Occasional successes in fish catching created desire to satisfy the Seid: they gave him different gifts, even put dolls which looked like women to the bottom of the lake.

The notion about the power of the witchcraft in fishing was widespread.

The Saami had a lot of tokens connected with fishery, for example: one couldn`t go out of the vezha while the mistress was taking out fish from the cauldron - it meant that fish would go away from the seine; one couldn`t hold in hands the fish, which was grilled on a nipches (a wooden spit driven into the ground in front of a fireplace): one should take it off and put it on a kar` (a wooden board for fish); when birds croaked abruptly - it meant that spring would be sudden, when they croaked drawlingly - it would be late; the ice melted without wind and breaking up - before a good fishing season; the ice was broken up with the help of wind - the fishing season would be bad; it thundered above a frozen lake - there would be a scarce catch, it thundered above an ice free lake - the fishing season would be good; a diver (tovt) cried often - before the rain, abruptly - before a nice, clear weather; the sein pulled easily - the catch would be good and vice versa.