The most important and proffitable but also the most hard and dangerous work was seal-hunting. They fished mostly for food. Seal-hunting grounds stretched up to the eastern parts of the Gulf of Finland. Trophies were evenly distributed between members of hunting groups. Hunters kept seal hides, fat was sold, meat was cooked or given to pigs.

In the middle of 1930s rowboats that were sold in Sweden became the newest Ruhnu export article. In winter Ruhnu residents prepared boat arcs and keels. In spring the rowboats were loaded in bigger boats and brougth to Sweden, primarily to Stockholm and Norrköping, where the boats were sold. Money gained this way – as well as any other income – was exempt from taxes for Ruhnu residents.

Ruhnu residents with a load of potatoes in Port of Helsinki. From left Peter Bulders (Ullisgård), Isak Skallus (Strömfel), Tomas Ullis (Ullisgård), Henrik Kors (Dreijer) and Jakob Bergs (Nordgren), ca 1923.

Ruhnu fishermen launching a boat. Other Ruhnu boats are in the background. September 1943.

Weighting the fish in the Southern Port. September 1943.

Additional reading

• Life and work on Ruhnu
• History of Ruhnu

Created in 2014