In 2024, 501 women were recorded with fishing as their main occupation, 26% of them were in the 20-29 age group.
Photo: Adobe Stock.
Data from the 2024 Fisheries Register presented by the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (Fiskeridirektoratet, Fdir, in its Norwegian name and acronym), showed that the number of fisherwomen is increasing in Norway. "The proportion of female fishers has steadily increased over many years," Fdir claimed.
Preliminary figures presented at the beginning of the year showed that, both as measured by the number of fishermen and as a proportion of the total number of fishing professionals, there was a growing interest in the fishing profession among women.
Specifically, in 2024, 501 women were registered with fishing as their main occupation, representing 5.3% of all full-time fishers who, on that same date totalled 9,456 people.
The graph shows the number of full-time fishers by gender in the period 2010-2024 in Norway.
Graph: Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (translated by WeAreAquaculture).
That figure represents a decrease of about 200 people from 2023, this is a 2.16% decline. In total, including those for whom fishing is a secondary occupation, there were 10,584 registered fishers in Norway, the lowest number ever recorded.
However, against this backdrop, there is room for hope not only because of the growing interest of women, but also of young people. Both trends were already evident last summer when the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries reported that one in three in Norway's Youth Fishing Program was a woman.
Indeed, by age group, the highest number of full-time female fishers in 2024 was in the 20-29 age group, representing 26%, according to data now provided by the Fdir.
The Youth Fishing Program ultimate goal is to offer young Norwegians an introduction to fishing as a career option and, it seems to be working as the Directorate of Fisheries also said that, overall, the proportion of young full-time fishermen was increasing. However, the distribution between age groups remained relatively stable between 2023 and 2024, as seen in the graph below.
The graph shows the percentage distribution of full-time fishers in different age groups for the period 2010-2024 in Norway.
Graph: Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries (translated by WeAreAquaculture).
In addition, the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries also presented the preliminary figures for fishing vessels in the Vessel Register which showed that the number of registered fishing vessels has remained relatively stable in recent years.
In 2024, there were 5,441 registered fishing vessels, a reduction of 37 compared to 2023. Of these, 4,614 were active – this is, they recorded catches in the Directorate of Fisheries' landings and settlement register during the year -, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 4,675 in 2023.
