Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, Norwegian Minister of Fisheries, opened Nor-Fishing with the prediction that value creation from the marine sector will increase sixfold by 2050, from NOK90bn in 2010 to NOK550bn in 2050.
In her opening address Mrs Berg-Hansen gave a small preview of the conclusions in a report that will be presented on Thursday. The report has been prepared by a working group established by The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Technology, and foresees an exciting future for the marine sector.
Thirteen years ago, a report commissioned by the same institutions was presented. In that report, it was foreseen that value creation in the marine sector would increase to NOK75bn by 2010. This prediction was just slightly off, as the real figure in 2010 was NOK90bn.
Mrs Berg-Hansen pointed out that the world has until now utilised only a very small part of the “ocean garden” for food production. In a world that is constantly characterised by hunger and shortage of food, the message from the minister was quite clear: “It is the ocean that we must turn to when we look for solutions."
