Quality of fish and fish products

Early standardization in a seafood nation

As a leading fisheries and aquaculture nation, Norway was early in developing standards that set requirements for the industry. Standards Norway, in collaboration with the Norwegian Seafood Council, has prepared standards for documentation and quality requirements for fish and seafood products. These include salmon (NS 9401), salmon fillet (NS 9402), skrei (NS 9406), farmed halibut (NS 9407), fresh cod (NS 9408), shrimp (NS 9409), Arctic char (NS 9411), trout (NS 9412), salted cod (NS 9413), hake (NS 9441), tusk (NS 9442), sea-frozen fillets of whitefish (NS 9444), and fish oils in triglyceride form – sensory quality requirements (NS 9445).

Read more about the Norwegian Standard for quality of skrei.

Quality label

To emphasize that these are high-quality products, the standards include requirements that go beyond the minimum criteria set by the quality regulations for fish and seafood. Fish and seafood that meet the requirements of the standard may be sold with the "Godt norsk" (Good Norwegian) quality label, issued by the Norwegian Seafood Council. A certification body must verify that the labelling complies with the standard.

The labelling scheme was originally intended to improve the labelling of Norwegian fish for export. In recent years, however—due to increased import of fish from other countries to Norway—it has also been used for distributing Norwegian-produced goods in domestic retail.

Available in multiple languages

Several of the standards have been translated into English, French, Spanish, and German, enabling buyers in various countries to familiarize themselves with the quality requirements for Norwegian fish.

Minke whale

The standard NS 9443 Norwegian minke whale – Requirements for handling, production and distribution of meat helps ensure that Norwegian whale meat maintains good and consistent quality. Users of the standard include whalers, receiving stations, producers, and distributors, who must meet specific temperature requirements during storage. The standard can also serve as a contractual reference. The quality label “Norsk kvalitetshval” (Norwegian Quality Whale) has been established based on this standard. The work was supported by Innovation Norway.