Sustainable fisheries are the main objective of Norwegian fisheries management. Despite powerful management tools, sustainability in the fisheries sector is not an easy task. There is no formal definition of the concept, and operationalization is vague. In recent years, private actors and...

Following years of reduced cod stocks and the build up of capture capacity in the coastal fleet, the Norwegian government implemented "access closure" and "vessel quotas" at the end of the 1980s, in order to bring capture capacity under control. However, despite these rather powerful policy...

The introduction of modern trawl fishing in Norway after the Second World War was intended to be the very platform for the modernisation of the fishing industry. Right up to the end of the 1970s, market orientation and the absence of state regulation of fishing were on the agenda. However, the...

While most commercial fisheries in the North Atlantic are strictly regulated through total allowable quotas, licenses and vessel quotas to limit the catch rates, the fishing for blue whiting represents an exception. Today, the blue whiting fishery is out of control; catch rates far exceed what...

The introduction of modern resource management in post-war fishery policies involved a strict regulation regime for fisheries. Among the measures are limited entry, the introduction of total allowable quota (TAC) and individual vessel quotas in addition to technical regulations for the execution...

Factory trawlers are the most controversial vessel group in Norwegian fisheries. At the time the fleet emerged, stern trawling in combination with on-board processing of cod fillets was regarded as a major innovation. However, the deep-sea fleet was intended to be a stable supplier of fish to...

The cod resources in the Barents Sea constitute the most important fisheries in Norway. In order to reduce resource allocation conflicts among different gear and vessel groups and to ensure profit for all participants throughout the value chain, the sector is thoroughly organized. The...

Since the introduction of quotas and licences as important management tools, Norway has insisted on an individual vessel quota regime (IVQ). The main argument has been to avoid market-based transactions of quotas and vessels and secure stability in regard to a diverse fleet structure and...