The share of the Norwegian gross domestic product obtained from the fishing, sealing and whaling has decreased from about 2 per cent in 1949 to 0.6 per cent in 1996. The share of total employment has decreased from 3.6 per cent to 0.9 per cent during the same period.
There are now less than 24,000 active fishermen in Norway. This is a substantial reduction from the 1930s, when there were about 120,000 fishermen.
The last years, export of fishproducts has amounted to 14-15 percent of the traditional Norwegian export of commodities. (Export of oil, gas, ships and oil drilling platforms excluded). In 1996 this figure was 14.6 per cent. Approximately 62 percent of the export goes to the European Community. In 1996, 1.8 million tonnes of fish products to a value of NOK 22.5 billions was exported.
Norway has, with some success, introduced conservation and management measures that limit fisheries overcapacity and overfishing.