Nofima’s figures show that inn 2007, total Norwegian seafood consumption was 104,000 tonnes. Norway imported 38,000 tonnes of processed seafood products, an increase of 46 percent on 1996 figures. In Norway fish processing plants are no longer needs to be located near the fishing grounds or fish farms as it employs less people. Cheap labour or the protection of tariff walls can be a decisive factor for where processing takes place.
It is true that in Europe Norway has long had higher labour cost than other countries, and in recent years labour costs here have risen sharply compared to other European countries. Even jobs in fishing industry is not very remarkable. From 1993 to 2006, production of stockfish, saltfish and clipfish showed the greatest profitability. At the same time, production of filleted white fish suffered significant losses.
But the main part is that the demanding customers of seafood are increasing in Norway. It is said that the Norwegian seafood suppliers meet customers in the export market demanding more competitive process, a greater product range and better security of supply. The increased import of seafood products to Norway indicates the overseas seafood suppliers are far better than the domestic ones.
