AFTER THE STORM, COMES THE CALM

After the storm, comes the calm. Bjørn-Erik Stabell, UK Director at the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC), explains that despite record-low Norwegian quotas and a challenging first half of the year, there are reasons for optimism. The UK remains Norway’s eighth-most-important seafood export market and continues to be our largest market for natural cod.

Norwegian seafood has a strong position in foodservice and is gaining increasing traction in retail. With expected growth in Norwegian quotas, increased production of farmed whitefish, and salmon holding a record-strong position, the foundations are in place for continued growth in the years ahead.

June brought a welcome bright spot in an otherwise challenging first half of the year. For the first time since January, exports were in line with 2025, with volumes up 1% and value flat. Salmon exports increased by 4% in volume, while value declined by 2%. This helped offset some of the decline in whitefish, where volumes fell by 33% and value by 19%, driven by weak development in both cod and haddock.

The outlook for the rest of the year will continue to be shaped by low quotas and limited availability, especially for cod. As a result, weak development in whitefish should still be expected through the remainder of 2026. For farmed cod and halibut, however, the trend is positive and is expected to continue throughout 2026.

Salmon will be particularly interesting to follow in the months ahead. It was recently announced that Scottish salmon exports to the US have fallen by 40% so far this year. The US has traditionally been a major export market for Scotland, and reduced volume to the US may influence Norwegian exports to the UK. However, the scale of that impact remains uncertain. Demand growth in the UK market is very strong, with foodservice servings of salmon increasing by more than 20% from 2024 to 2025, alongside strong growth in retail. This is being driven by both consumer trends and salmon’s strengthened competitive position relative to cod. See what Bjørn-Erik wrote about salmon earlier this year here.

You’ll find more details on export developments here.

Photo by Caroline Attwood on Unsplash