LIEGRUPPEN FISKERI AS

Their core work

Liegruppen Fiskeri AS is a Norwegian fishing company (SME) based in Straume, near Bergen, one of Norway's main commercial fishing hubs. They participate in EU research consortia as an operational industry partner, contributing real-world fishing expertise, practical knowledge of fishing and processing technology, and on-the-water data that academic partners typically cannot provide. Their project involvement spans a digital bioeconomy data platform and frontier research on mesopelagic (deep-sea) fisheries sustainability, including stock assessment, ecosystem governance, and climate resilience. As a practicing fishing company embedded in large EU research networks, they serve as a bridge between industrial fisheries operations and scientific inquiry into sustainable marine resource management.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (DataBio, 2017–2019), Liegruppen contributed fisheries knowledge within a broad bioeconomy context that also covered agriculture and forestry — a generalist industry-data role with no sector specialisation. By their second project (MEESO, 2019–2024), the focus had narrowed sharply to mesopelagic ecosystems, stock assessment, biomass production, and ecosystem governance — a far more specialised and scientifically demanding domain. The shift signals a clear move from serving as a general fishing industry voice toward becoming a specialist industrial partner in deep-sea and mesopelagic fisheries research.

Liegruppen appears to be positioning itself in the emerging mesopelagic fisheries space — a frontier area of European marine science — which makes them a relevant industry partner for future projects targeting deep-sea biomass, blue food systems, or sustainable fishing governance.

How they like to work

Liegruppen has always joined as a participant, never as coordinator, which is typical for operational industry SMEs contributing sector expertise to academically-led consortia. Despite having only two projects, they have engaged with 70 unique partners across 22 countries, reflecting participation in very large, internationally structured EU consortia rather than small bilateral collaborations. Working with them means bringing a practicing fishing operator into the consortium — a profile that satisfies industry-engagement requirements and provides grounded operational data that research teams find difficult to source elsewhere.

Despite only two H2020 projects, Liegruppen has engaged with 70 unique partners across 22 countries — a network footprint that reflects participation in very large EU research consortia. Their connections span Europe's main fisheries and marine science nations, giving them exposure to a broad cross-section of the European blue economy research community.

What sets them apart

Liegruppen is a rare participant in EU research: an active, operational fishing company rather than a research institute or consultancy, which means they bring direct on-the-water practice to scientific consortia. Most fisheries research projects struggle to recruit real fishing operators willing to contribute data and industry perspective — Liegruppen fills that role credibly. Their specific engagement with mesopelagic fisheries — a resource with almost no established commercial industry yet — also positions them as an early-mover industrial voice in what may become a significant future fishing sector in Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MEESO
  One of the first major EU projects to scientifically assess mesopelagic fisheries as a viable and sustainable food and feed resource, combining ecology, stock management, governance, and climate resilience across a 5-year RIA — and one of very few such projects to include an operational fishing company as a partner.
• DataBio
  A large-scale Innovation Action that built a big-data platform for the bioeconomy sector, with Liegruppen representing the fisheries use case alongside agriculture and forestry industry partners in a broad, cross-sector digital infrastructure initiative.