Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Marianne Sivertsen Næss
Photo: NFD
Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries has appointed an expert group to recommend ways of improving raw material quality in the country’s fishing industry, and thus increase value.
According to the ministry, the panel will advise on how quality can be improved both when fish are caught and when they are received on land. It will also examine how first-hand fish sales could be structured to increase the value of the raw material entering the supply chain.
Announcing the initiative on 22 April, Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Affairs Marianne Sivertsen Næss said it would form part of broader work in support of the long-term competitiveness of Norway’s seafood sector.
"One of my most important projects going forward is to contribute to a future-oriented and competitive seafood industry in Norway. The seafood industry contributes to jobs, activity and settlement along the entire coast. To help us in this important work, I have appointed an expert group with broad expertise and experience," she said.
The Ministry of Fisheries said the group brings together representatives with experience from harvesting, processing, labour and market-facing parts of the industry.
"My goal is to find good and feasible measures to improve the quality of the raw material that is landed. We must increase the quality of wild-caught raw materials. This is about value chain thinking," Sivertsen Næss said.
The meetings will be chaired by State Secretary Kristina Sigurdsdottir Hansen, with secretariat support led by the ministry. Nofima, the Directorate of Fisheries and the Norwegian Seafood Council will also take part, according to the announcement.
The expert group is due to submit its final recommendations to the minister by 1 March 2027.
The appointed members are Jonette N. Braathen of the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association, Fredrik Greger of John Greger AS, fishers Natalie Hagemann, Alice Helleberg and Arve Myklebust, Morten Hyldborg Jensen, Managing Director of Nordic Group, Anne-Beth Skrede of LO (the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions), Victoria Solaas, head of quality at Lerøy Seafood Norway, and Bård Thomas Østvang, the head of Nofima's Seafood Division.
This latest initiative comes on the heels of a separate announcement in recent days that the Ministry of Fisheries has launched a new international working group aiming to increase seafood consumption.
Earlier this year, the Ministry also outlined plans aiming to ensure that a larger share of the economic value generated from Norwegian seafood resources would remain in the country, rather than being realised abroad through exports of unprocessed fish.