Hildegunn Simonsen, Head of Logistics and Procurement at the Nergård Fisk fish handling facility, squints against the low spring sun. It’s the middle of the day, at the end of the Skrei cod season. There’s furious activity on the quay of Senjahopen, a small fishing village on Senja, an island south of Tromsø in northern Norway.
No fish goes to waste
While Simonsen leads the way to the fish handling facility on the quay, she points towards a red fishing boat slowly chugging into the fjord. We know more or less how large her catch is. After weeks of bad weather, the wind has finally calmed down. Huge trays of fresh Skrei cod are loaded onto the quay from the waiting boats.
Inside the factory, a team stands ready to gut and clean the fish. Every single part of the fish is sorted and used, nothing goes to waste. The hum of the conveyor belt blends with the noise of the forklifts shuttling between the boats and cold store. At peak times, there can be around 130 people at work in this facility alone. Given that the village of Senjahopen only has 300 inhabitants, that’s a lot. The company is the area’s biggest employer, helping to ensure that people settle here permanently.
The seafood industry provides employment in the district
The factory is one of a number of examples of a growing trend: the Norwegian seafood industry has become one of the biggest employers in the rural districts, especially in western and northern Norway. The knock-on effects are enormous. The jobs that the seafood companies create make it possible for people to settle and live all over the country. They are key elements of their local communities. To make it more attractive to live in rural areas, they get involved in everything from youth sport to house sales and running kindergartens.
We need to be creative to get people to come and for them to stay, because we need labour and the schools here need kids.
Head of Logistics and Procurement - Nergård Fisk
Seafood industry creates lively local communities
Fishing and habitation along the coasts of Norway have always been closely linked. Catching and selling white fish such as cod, saithe and haddock have been very important since the dawn of time, especially in western and northern Norway. And it will continue to be so.
Analysis bureau Menon Economics studied the knock-on effects of the Norwegian seafood industry in 2021. The findings indicated that the effects are considerable. The industry is a major employer in rural districts, with no less than 47,600 employees within fishing, breeding, industry and supply chain. If jobs linked to the industry are counted, then according to Menon, the number rises to 93,600.
The same report found that the industry generated value equivalent to NOK 112 billion in 2020. Tax income from the industry is no less than NOK 30 billion. It’s reasonable to assume that those figures are higher in 2023. Value creation within the seafood industry has grown by 120% since 2010. Few Norwegian industries have grown that much in recent years.
Local fish handling facilities create knock-on effects
In the village of Medfjordvær on Senja, just four minutes by road from Senjahopen, the seafood and other industries are closely linked. Tommy Schanke Hansen runs his newly-renovated Mefjord Brygge hotel here.
Tourists come to stay all year round. They come in the summer to fish and to see the midnight sun. At this time of year, at the end of the winter season, the rooms are full of Frenchmen and Italians, here to enjoy the northern lights and powder snow. For Schanke Hansen and others serving the travel industry on the island, the seafood industry has made it possible to make a profit all year round.
Local landing – top quality, lower emissions
Back on the quay in Senjahopen, the fishing boat "Senjaliv" has just docked. The owner, Markus Henriksen, watches as the day’s catch is hoisted onto the quay. With 5 tonnes of Skrei cod in his holds, he’s a happy man. Being able to land their fish locally is important to fishermen such as Henriksen.
The opportunity to choose between several different facilities along the coast gives fishermen such as him greater flexibility on where to land their fish. It also makes it possible to use less fuel to the benefit of the sustainability in the industry as a whole. The numerous local facilities are important to the quality of the goods exported all over the world.
“I prefer to deliver locally so that the fish are as fresh as possible,” states Henriksen. He looks over at Hildegunn Simonsen and smiles.
There’s no food that’s more in a hurry than fresh fish, isn’t that right?
Fisherman