Norway’s seafood export value totalled NOK51.6bn in 2012 - a NOK1.8bn reduction from the previous year.
Norway exported 2.36 million tons of seafood in 2012, reports the Norwegian Seafood Council, down 78,000 tons compared to 2011.
Falling mackerel prices gave a reduction of NOK634m while reduced herring quotas were followed by a reduced export value of NOK183m for herring. Cod and saithe were reduced by NOK497m and NOK485m respectively.
57% of Norway’s seafood export (worth NOK29.6bn) was sold to the European market in 2012. A NOK1.3bn reduction to the EU was caused by lower prices on cod and salmon, but the volumes of Norwegian salmon grew substantially.
Russia was Norway’s most important market in 2012 with a total export of NOK6bn. France was the second largest market with an export value of NOK4.9bn.
Norway’s largest setback was exports to Japan, ending at NOK2.1bn - a reduction of NOK755m. This has been attributed to the reduced mackerel prices in 2012.
Growing volumes of both salmon and trout gave increased export value for aquaculture products. The 2012 growth for salmon and trout was NOK600m, representing a total of NOK31.5bn. Aquaculture was 61% of Norway’s total seafood export in 2012.
Salmon is the largest product from Norway and the country exported salmon for a total of NOK29.6bn while trout contributed with an export value of NOK1.7bn.
“The wild catch sector is more often affected by shifts in the resource situation. This effect can be seen in the pelagic sector where both catches and export was reduced in 2012. At the same time Norway’s cod fisheries is entering a year with record high quotas after years of hard work from both fishermen, researchers and politicians to establish a sustainable catch level. In this situation I hope that the Norwegian seafood sector is able to find inspiration in the aquaculture industry’s focus on development of products and markets,” said Terje E. Martinussen, CEO of the Norwegian Seafood Council.
