In many European areas, recent transitions in rural development can be described as a shift from an emphasis on food production to a diversity of new forms of natural resource utilisation. This shift towards post‐productivism is characteristic to many coastal areas, where commercial fisheries try to adapt their strategies with other activities, interests and ideologies, such as the protection of biodiversity, leisure use and tourism. This article analyses opportunities and governance arrangements that support commercial fishers’ adaptation within a post‐productivist setting, focusing on the Archipelago Sea region in southwest Finland. Relying on interview, survey and documentary material, the case‐study recognises new forms of multifunctional activities that enhance the viability and resilience of coastal communities and also deliver benefits to the environmental and leisure sectors.