Om oss | Our story

Our story

The forerunner of Fiskevegn started in Barmen in 1968. AS Fiskevegn was founded on 10 January 1973 at Vederhus in Selje municipality. Moved to the current location on Flatraket in 1982, with Stadhavet as the nearest neighbour. Many of our employees have extensive experience from working on board fishing boats, both inland and abroad.

AS Fiskevegn was started in 1973 by the founders Helge Solheim and Bodvar Vetrhus. Around the turn of the millennium, there were approximately 90 employees and thus the largest workplace in Selje municipality. We are located at Flatraket with a branch office in Ålesund.

The branch office in Ålesund was established at the end of the 1980s, where we have a sales office and a shop.

In the first half of the 1990s, we established collaborations with sales agents in New Zealand and in Seattle.

The subsidiary Best Fishing Gear was established in 1999 and produces autoline systems and mechanical solutions.

In the early 2000s, we established the joint venture company Magistr Fiskevegn Group (MFG) in Latvia, which now produces materials for our production. MFG is a subsidiary in which AS Fiskevegn own 50% of the shares.

From 2000 onwards, we have been an active player in the development of fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean. We are proud members of COLTO (Coalition of Legal Toothfish Operators). Fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean has been a journey where, in close collaboration with customers and interest organisations, we have developed products that make fishing more sustainable and reduce the negative impact on the environment and wildlife. This innovative work has made us the world’s leading supplier to this market.

In 2009, we developed the X-clip, which is a reinforced design and a better clip than the previous generation. This was again further developed in 2015 with ToughGrip clips which were a reinforcement of the existing design.

We changed the impregnation process in 2009 where we moved away from hot tar. This produced results in the form of a reduced negative impact on the environment in the sea and the working environment.

In 2010, we developed an improved hook with thicker string in collaboration with the manufacturer to meet the customer’s needs.

For the past 15 years, we have been involved in a project to develop a system to avoid the loss of catch to whales. This project is now out in commercial fishing.

In 2018, Mustad Autoline entered on the ownership side through the purchase of the shareholding in Vetrhus Holding AS. This links the companies Mustad and Fiskevegn together and makes it possible to realize synergies in larger parts of the value chain. The company has both a customer/supplier relationship, as well as competitors in some areas.