Bernt O. Bodal

"It is easy to see what Røkke is thinking about. He believes a system with fixed quotas is coming. And he assumes that the quotas will be distributed based on historical results: The more one has fished in recent years, the higher the ITQ allocation. This could mean Røkke's golden coup. Then he could get the right to fish pollock for billions every single year as a gift from the American authorities. "We believe that ITQ will come in one form or another – sooner or later," says Bernt O. Bodal, the head of American Seafoods. He sees clear arguments for eliminating today's race fishing where everyone has enormous overcapacity to grab as much as possible, as quickly as possible. Today, the people onboard work almost around the clock for the little over two months the season lasts."

"Kjell Inge Røkke has a phenomenal ability to pick winners and bring them into his fold. And he strikes when it suits the opponents least. A good example is the Seattle-based Svåsand family and their Aleutian Spray Fisheries. The boats were operated by the Norwegian Bernt O. Bodal, who had been at sea for many years as a captain and was a key employee in the shipping company. Bodal used his position to obtain ownership shares, but there was constant quarreling between the owners and the manager about which direction the shipping company should take, and economically, it was doing poorly. From the sidelines, Røkke watched as the shipping company dug itself deeper into debt, he fancied the boats and made his plans. So when the bank put the screws on the shipping company, Røkke struck and bought the debt. Now it was Kjell Inge Røkke who could dictate the terms. The first thing he did was to buy out Bernt O. Bodal by tempting him with ownership shares. The old owners couldn't do much and just had to accept being bought out for next to nothing. The outcome was that Røkke and Bodal started American Pacific Fisheries and took over "Pacific Navigator," "Pacific Scout," and "Pacific Explorer." Bodal received 20 percent. In this way, Kjell Inge Røkke managed to kill two birds with one stone: He secured the small, but top-modern trawlers, and at the same time recruited a man he considered very skilled. The ownership share Bodal received ensured that he was bound to the mast for the foreseeable future."