to be established on the Nærøy side of the strait, but the municipal council did not agree to it, instead they recommended that the port of call for the steamships be moved to Rørvik, something that happened in 1863. The post office was also moved there in 1866. Rørvik thus grew up as a town connected to the sea and communications. In addition, there was a trading post with merchants such as Johan Berg and Paul Anzjøn and somewhat later the Holand and Fossaa families as the largest merchants. The state withdrew from steamship traffic in the 1860s and private shipping companies took over with boats built for freight traffic. Rørvik was called at by Hurtigruten from the start in 1893. In addition, there were a number of accommodation and restaurants. The Czech author and journalist Karel Čapek described the place in transit in 1936: "Rørvik, the first small town on an island; inhabited by a number of small wooden houses, including three hotels, ten cafes and an editorial office for the local newspaper." The subsidy schemes for the establishment of new small farms in Norway contributed to several of the islands in Vikna being populated as late as the 1930s. A few years later, in 1947, the first of the families moved from Ytre Vikna to Rørvik. The migration flow that occurred in the years that followed fell into three categories: those who moved completely out of the district and traveled to one of the industrial sites; those who moved to Rørvik and got work there; and those who moved to Rørvik, but continued to fish in the areas they came from. Before 1955, only Rørvik had access to electricity from a public electricity supplier, and the power lines became decisive for much of the settlement. The development of the road network, distance to public services such as schools, and relocation grants and offers of building-ready plots in Rørvik, were also important reasons why people moved. The opening of the mainland connection at Fylkesvei 770 and Rørvik Airport, Ryum in the 1970s and 1980s laid the foundation for a new upswing in trade and service industries in Rørvik. In the 1970s, the first experiments with aquaculture also began in the region, which already during the 1980s and 1990s became an important industry. Transportation Rørvik is a port of call of the Hurtigruten coastal steamer, and the northbound and southbound