Russian Cod Sales in Norway Reach Record Levels
Russian-caught cod generated record revenues in Norway in 2025, exceeding NOK 1.01 billion (approximately €90 million / £78 million) despite the continued sanctions regime imposed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as reported by The Barents Sea Observer.
According to figures from Statistics Norway, Russian fishing vessels landed 14,000 tonnes of cod in Norwegian ports last year. While this represented a decline from the 20,000 tonnes recorded in 2024, it remained significantly higher than volumes landed in earlier years.
Higher market prices and sustained demand pushed the overall value of these landings above the billion-kroner mark. Fish also accounted for around 40 percent of all Norwegian imports from Russia in 2025, making seafood the dominant remaining trade category between the two countries.
This stands in stark contrast to the broader collapse in bilateral trade. Statistics Norway reports that overall imports from Russia have fallen by approximately NOK 14.6 billion (about €1.30 billion / £1.13 billion) since sanctions targeting energy products and metals were introduced.
Before the war in Ukraine, Norwegian imports from Russia were dominated by petroleum products and metals, including diesel, heating oil and aluminium. Those trade flows have since been sharply curtailed.
Seafood remains largely unaffected because both the European Union and Norway deliberately excluded food products, including fish, from the sanctions packages.
Fish accounted for 40 percent of all Norwegian imports from Russia in 2025, according to Statistics Norway.
Coastal Communities Warn of Economic Impact
Despite the record values reported in 2025, coastal industry representatives say the longer-term outlook is uncertain.
One of the few Norwegian ports still open to Russian fishing vessels is Båtsfjord, where fish is cleared through customs before entering local supply chains. Among the businesses handling the catch is Båtsfjord Sentralfryselager, a cold storage facility that receives and distributes fish landed by Russian vessels.
Frank Kristiansen, Managing Director of Båtsfjord Sentralfryselager, said the local economy is heavily dependent on Russian deliveries.
“We are the only ones who are clearly dependent on Russian deliveries. The fact that the vessels are going to port in Båtsfjord maintains local jobs. Now both the jobs and the Russian vessels could disappear,” Kristiansen said.
According to him, Russian cod has historically accounted for around 50 percent of the fish handled by the facility.
Kristiansen warned that the combination of sanctions and reduced cod quotas is already affecting activity levels in the region.
“Activity levels have dropped significantly. Fewer people are at work. Three employees have been temporarily laid off, and others have left. For us, that amounts to a 40 percent reduction in activity,” he said.
While acknowledging the political context behind the sanctions, Kristiansen criticised the lack of support for affected communities.
“What we lack is compensation from the state. Båtsfjord invested in infrastructure for future Russian shipping traffic. There is no compensation for the losses for our local industry,” he said.
Coastal Fishermen Criticise Cod Delivery Obligation System
Separate criticism has emerged from the Norwegian Coastal Fishermen’s Association, which argues that Norway’s cod delivery obligation system is failing to support the coastal fishing sector and local processing industry.
The obligation system was originally designed to ensure that cod caught by trawlers would supply land-based processing plants in designated coastal municipalities. The arrangement was a key condition when trawlers received licences and exemptions from the Participant Act.
However, the organisation says the system has drifted far from its intended purpose.
“Far too large quantities of cod are taken out of the country as frozen and unprocessed raw material, fish that could ensure activity, jobs and settlement along the coast,” the association said in its submission to the government committee reviewing the system.
According to the organisation, the gap between the quantities theoretically covered by delivery obligations and the volumes actually processed locally has widened significantly.
Proposal for Industry Ordering System
To address the issue, the association has proposed a new model that would allow processing plants in designated municipalities to pre-order specific quantities and qualities of fish before trawlers begin fishing operations.
Under such a system, trawlers holding mandatory quotas would be required to deliver fish according to those orders within their quota allocation.
“The delivery obligation must be linked more closely to the industry’s actual needs. This way we can ensure that the scheme functions as a real industrial policy instrument, not just a formality,” the submission states.
If trawlers fail to deliver according to these orders, the organisation proposes that the relevant quota should instead be transferred to the coastal fleet, which it says supplies fresher raw material and operates in a pattern more compatible with local processing plants.
Structural Quotas Also Under Scrutiny
The Norwegian Coastal Fishermen’s Association also warned against altering the time limits governing the structural quota system.
Structural quotas were introduced with the understanding that they would return to the fleet groups after 20 to 25 years, a measure intended to prevent long-term concentration of fishing rights.
“Weakening the return would violate the Storting’s decision and undermine the predictability of the quota system. These quotas should return to the community, not contribute to further concentration of rights,” the organisation said.
The association concluded that if the delivery obligation system cannot be restored to its original purpose, the mandatory quotas should instead be reassigned to the coastal fleet.
“Norwegian fishing resources belong to the community. They should be managed in a way that provides the greatest possible value creation, employment and settlement in Norway. The current obligation system has proven over time not to work well enough. We now expect concrete and targeted changes,” the organisation said.
