The Norwegian coastline, including the fjords and islands, extends for more than 57 000 km. Some 80 per cent of the Norwegian population lives in the coastal areas. The coastal zone and resources continue to play a major role in settlement and employment patterns, as well as in the national and regional economy. Important activities in the coastal zone include fisheries, aquaculture, sea transport, tourism and recreation. The coastal zone also represents a significant cultural heritage area, encompassing an important aspect of Norway’s history and identity.
Six times more sea than land
Given its jurisdiction over and responsibility for a maritime area that is six times larger than its land area, Norway has a vested interest in the management of maritime areas and ocean resources. Norway is a net recipient of pollution from other countries, which is carried to its shores by winds and ocean currents.
Threats to the marine environment
Previously, little was known about ocean currents carrying pollution from faraway countries to the Norwegian coast, or about the fact that discharges of hazardous chemicals on other continents could be transported all the way to Svalbard. Only in the past ten years or so did it become clear that pollution poses a serious threat not only to national rivers, lakes and coastal areas, but also to the environment of the high seas.
Commercial use of the coastline
Norway has legal rights to marine areas containing substantial oil and gas deposits. In the last few decades the petroleum industry has emerged as a fundamental component of the Norwegian economy. Oil and gas will continue to be of great importance in the future.
Norway’s coastal and marine areas are among the most productive areas in the world in terms of living marine resources. While the petroleum resources are non-renewable, the harvest of marine resources will not be limited in terms of time provided these resources are managed in a sustainable long-term perspective. There is great potential for the further industrial and commercial development of the aquaculture industry along the coast of Norway.
Norwegian coral reefs
Coral reefs, probably the most vulnerable type of marine environment that exists, are found along the entire Norwegian coast. These reefs are of major importance for fisheries, research and as a source of marine genetic resources.
Estimates indicate that between 30 and 50 percent of the coral reefs in Norwegian waters have been damaged or crushed, probably by bottom-trawling fishery activities. In recent years, the Norwegian authorities have implemented measures to protect the coral reefs. In June 2003 the Norwegian Minister of Fisheries and the Minister of the Environment were awarded the international Gift to the Earth Prize from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), for their successful efforts to halt the degradation to the Norwegian coral reefs.
Sustainable management
The riches of the sea must be managed in a manner that ensures their sustainability. Norway is currently preparing a unified resource management plan for the sector encompassing the Lofoten Islands and Barents Sea to assess the overall environmental impact of human activities in the marine areas. This process aims to achieve the best possible balance between the various commercial interests in order to maintain an unpolluted, bountiful marine environment. The resource management plan is scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2006.
By the Norwegian Ministry of the Environment