The system of Norwegian fish sales unions – An anachronism or a successful adaptation to modern fisheries?

ABSTRACT The Norwegian system of mandatory sales unions with monopoly powers to fix minimum ex-vessel prices, protected by law, has for years attracted much interest, ranging from contempt to admiration. How is it that a system invented during the economic crisis in the late 1930s has survived and thrived, even in an era of increasing globalization and free market reforms? The paper gives a brief history of the system and examines how it has changed, developed and been contested since its establishment in 1938. Special emphasis is placed on the Norwegian Raw Fish Association (NRA), which is the largest of the Norwegian fish sales unions. With a conservative-liberalist coalition government since 2013, the system has again been questioned, and the paper discusses whether the Fish Sales Unions Act and the sales unions will survive in the future.