Norway is the world’s second largest exporter of seafood, providing 37 million daily meals of seafood to 150 countries across the globe. Responsible management of our precious resources is at the very core of the Norwegian seafood industry.
According to the Norwegian Seafood Council, the country manages its fisheries in a holistic, eco-friendly and sustainable manner. This approach is demonstrated in 6 specific aspects:
Protecting by law
In the 1980s, Norway experienced a serious fisheries crisis. Two of our most important fish stocks were close to depletion, the North East Arctic Cod, known to many as skrei, and Norwegian herring. The urgent need for stricter controls brought about a new law protecting our precious fish stocks. Today, this law is known as the Marine Resources act and has been updated to secure sustainable and economically sound management of Norwegian fish stocks now and for the future.
Cod fisherman off the coast of Norway. Photo: Norwegian Seafood Council.
Research and statistics: Finding and counting fish
You cannot set accurate fishing quotas without first having a thorough understanding of the health of the seas. Norway spends a significant amount of time, money, and expertise on gathering the data that is needed to accurately set quotas for how much we – and other coastal states – can responsibly harvest from the various fish stocks each year. Scientific stock assessments and data collection is carried out by The National Institute of Marine Research. The data from these assessments is important for The International Council for The Exploration of the Seas (ICES) which, prior to each fishing season, provides independent catch advice to the coastal states.
Protection: Not everything is up for grabs
Fishermen also have to follow the same regulations as commercial fishing vessels. Photo: Arctic Seafood Norway AS.
Thorough stock assessments enable us to protect younger fish classes from being caught, allowing new generations of fish to grow large enough before being subject to catching. This approach makes sense both ecologically and economically as the cost of “counting” is offset by future economic benefits. The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries carries out trial fishing to identify what areas should be considered closed for a period of time to allow fish to spawn, grow and thrive. Closing of fisheries can also be a result of efforts to protect other vulnerable parts of the ecosystem, such as important corals. A ban of certain fishing equipment or methods may then become relevant.
Selective equipment: Sticking to your targeted catch
By-catch will always be a problem in fishing, Norway has been taking steps for more than three decades to reduce the number of fish caught outside of quotas. They have rules guiding sorting grid size, mesh net size and the size of hooks used – all of which are designed to maximise targeted catch while making sure larger or smaller fish are spared and to protect the fragile ecosystems along our coast.
No throwing back: A ban on discards
Despite new and improved equipment, by-catch is inevitable. But in Norway, discards are banned. As well as being a highly wasteful practice, discarding by-catch makes it much harder to assess the health of the seas and the underlying condition of the stocks.
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Regulation must be enforced, and Norway takes a multi-body approach to ensuring fishing policies are followed. The Norwegian Coast Guard spends around 70 percent of its resources making sure fishing activities are carried out at the right time, in the right areas and with the right equipment.
Norway has been the flag bearer on sustainability for decades, inspiring others to put laws in place to protect fish stocks and exporting our fisheries management expertise to underdeveloped fishing nations looking to build – and maintain – thriving and sustainable stocks.
