Theme - Fishing and fish farming

Key figures for 2009:

Fishing and fish farming's share of GDP: 0.5 per cent

Fishing:

Norwegian fishing vessels supplied 2.5 million tonnes of fish and crustaceans

Catch value: NOK 11.3 billion

No. of persons with fishing as their main occupation: 10 200

No. of fishing vessels: 6 510

Fish farming (excl. crustacean):

Norway sold 962 000 tonnes of farmed fish

First-hand value: NOK 22.5 billion

Employment: 5 070 persons

No. of escaped farmed fish: 570 000

Explanation of terms

Fishing includes all commercial fishing for fish, sharks, molluscs and crustaceans in the sea.
The term "catch" is mainly used when referring to fishing, but also sealing and whaling.
Fish farming includes the commercial farming of fish, molluscs and crustaceans. The feeding of fish caught wild is also included here.
First-hand value is the value that the producer receives for the farmed fish and crustaceans (first link in the sales chain).
A licence for fish farming and crustacean farming is a permit that entitles the holder to carry out fish farming.
The fish farmers report escapes, and the figure is open to uncertainty.
Round weight is the weight of the fish before it is gutted.

Focus on

Fishing and fish farming

Norway has always been a fishing nation. A long coastline with wide seabeds and countless fjords provide Norway with good conditions for reaping an abundance of benefits from the sea. The most important challenge has been and will continue to be managing the fish stocks in an optimum way for nature and the population. Today, fish is the third most important export product after oil/gas and metal, and accounts for 5.7 per cent of the total Norwegian export value. The largest share of our export goes to Denmark, Russia, France and Japan.

Fishing

Fishing in Norwegian waters has historically varied considerably. This can largely be explained by overfishing and the natural variation of stocks. After a historical low in 1990, the Norwegian catch has almost doubled. During the same period, both the number of fishermen and fishing vessels have fallen by more than a third. Today, 10 200 persons give fishing as their main occupation, while the corresponding figure in 1950 was more than 68 000.

Fish farming

Fish farming in Norway really began to take off at the start of the 1980s, when attempts at large-scale salmon production were successful. Today, salmon makes up 90 per cent of the total sale of Norwegian fish farming. As regards other species of fish, rainbow trout is dominant.