Sustainability implications of COVID-19 related seafood supply chain disruptions in Norway

Abstract

Disruptions to global supply chains have the potential to influence the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of seafood products. The COVID-19 pandemic, the strongest recent disruption to global markets, induced a sudden economic shock that disrupted seafood supply chains. In this study, we discuss sustainability implications of COVID-19 on salmon, cod, mackerel, and king crab products exported by Norway, a major exporter of seafood products globally. We combined insights from analyses of national trade statistics, European trade statistics, and information from interviews with stakeholders from the Norwegian seafood sector to inform our discussion on sustainability. COVID-19 related supply chain disruptions most notably led to shifts in the number of markets importing Norwegian seafood, but not destination-specific volumes of cod, mackerel, and king crab products. Changes to the markets importing Norwegian seafood for consumption, transit to downstream markets, and for processing may particularly have influenced changes to the social and environmental sustainability of products. The Norwegian government’s rapid response to prioritize maintaining the supply of seafood to foreign markets also played a pivotal positive role from both an economic and social sustainability perspective at the national level. Our study shows the need for prioritising the supply of products to mitigate the effects of economic shocks in policy making.