Press releases

H.M. King Harald will officially open Nor-Fishing 2010 in Trondheim, Norway on the 17th of August. The Minister of Fisheries and Coastal Affairs, Mrs. Lisbeth Berg-Hansen, will also attend together with prominent guests from the fisheries authorities of several countries.

Category: Nor-Fishing (en)

Chairperson of the Nor-Fishing Foundation, Director of Fisheries Liv Holmefjord, expressed her gratitude and pride on behalf of the industry to His Majesty for having agreed to participate in the event. The King has participated at a number of official openings of the Nor-Fishing and Aqua Nor exhibitions over the years, and he officially opened last year's Aqua Nor 2009.

The Royal Family has shown great interest in the fisheries industry over the years, and King Haakon (1908), King Olav, King Harald and Crown Prince Haakon have all participated in the official opening of fisheries and aquaculture exhibitions held in Norway (please see the attached list of official openings).

This year's Nor-Fishing is the 23rd fisheries exhibition since 1960. The organiser can thus celebrate the 50th anniversary of the modern fisheries exhibitions in Norway. Nor-Fishing is the oldest fisheries exhibition in the world still being held regularly. The very first fisheries exhibition in Norway was held as early as 1864 in Aalesund, but exhibitions before World War II were held at irregular intervals and were organized by different institutions. It was not until 1960 that the Ministry of Fisheries took over the responsibility for organizing the exhibition, and since 1993 the Nor-Fishing Foundation has been the official organiser.

All through these 50 years, Nor-Fishing has contributed to increased awareness of and interest in the development of fisheries research, fisheries technology, fish processing and fisheries management both in Norway and around the world. In 1960 there were about 61,000 registered fishermen in Norway. Today there are only some 12,500. In 1960 the total landed catch was just over 1.3 million tonnes, while in 2010 it is expected to be about 2.5 million tonnes, plus another 1 million tonnes of farmed fish (mostly salmon and trout). This achievement has been possible only through the development of a sustainable fisheries industry.

 

Further information:

Erik Hempel, Chief Press Officer. Tel: +47 9084 1124 . E-mail: erik.hempel@nor-fishing.no
Odd Berg, Director. Tel: + 47 9011 9942 . E-mail: odd.berg@nor-fishing.no
Web site: www.nor-fishing.no

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