This is explained by a large increase in the catches of sandeel and horse mackerel, which outweighed the halving of the Norway pout catch. The total number of decked vessels made of steel was 678 at the end of 1997. The decline has mainly been due to a declining number of small open boats. The use of special types of fishing gear requires a licence for larger vessels. One vessel might have more than one licence.
Danish seine require a licence .
There were 102 large licensed purse seiners at the end of 1997. These vessels also held 82 licences for different types of pelagic trawl. The number of trawlers with a licence for demersal fish was 110 vessels, and 6 smaller vessels had an unlimited licence. The production of farmed fish has risen steeply since the industry was established at the beginning of the 1970 and expanded rapidly during the 1980s. The natural environment, with deep sheltered fjords, constitutes ideal conditions for this development and today Norway accounts for more than half of the world production of farmed Atlantic salmon.