�lesund has the most important fishing harbour in Norway. The town's fishing fleet is one of the most modern in Europe. �lesund and surroundings also has a large furniture industry. Some well-known household items are manufactured here. In the 1950s and 1960s, �lesund was one of the chief stations of the herring fishery business.
In relation to the relatively large fishing fleet belonging to �lesund and nearby harbours a large shipbuilding and ship equipment industry has evolved. There are not any yards building ships in Aalesund any more, the last shipyard - Liaaen Shipyard evolved into ship repairs and since late 1990s has mainly been serving the offshore industry through the company Liaaen Technology that merged and rebranded to Strata M�re in 2007. In the close by communities however shipyards continue to operate successfully: STX Europe Ulstein Verft, Kleven Maritime, Havyard Group.
When oil was found in the North Sea in the 1970s the local fishing fleet ship owners seized the opportunity and rebuilt fishing vessels to serve the infant oil exploration and production industry. Soon they were able to build purpose designed offshore vessels at local shipyards to serve the North Sea oil adventure even better. Today this has become a cornerstone industry in and around �lesund through leading offshore supply ship owning companies Farstad, Bourbon, Olympic, Havila, and Rem. Serving the ship building industry a large number of equipment manufacturers has evolved:Odim, Sperre, Optimar, Ship Equip, Jets and many more.
To the east of �lesund lies the village of Sykkylven. The Ekornes factory, producing furniture such as the StressLess chair. H�hjem, another village near �lesund, contains the headquarters of the Stokke company. �lesund is also one of the harbours at which the Hurtigruten arrives two times per day. �lesund is a popular tourist attraction, both due to its pittoresque town center and its proximity to major fjords. The Atlanterhavsparken
