Cod Fish Season of Lofoten

Every year from Feb till end Apr, the Arctic cod fish migrates from the Barents Sea in the millions to Lofoten islands to spawn. At this time of the year fishermen get out to sea and start bringing in the migrating cods. The fish heads are removed and gutted and dried unsalted in the beautiful cool, dry weather. The nutrients are retained and the fish are exported to countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal and now even to Nigeria.

Cod fish drying in the cool dry weather 

We visited Lofoten in early March 2016. From Sakrisoy to Reine, you can literally see tons and tons of fish drying in the sun. Where we stayed at Sakrisoy, the fish were hanging just outside our cabins. And yes there was a slight fishy smell in the air. But it was certainly bearable.

Cod fish outside our cabin

Near to Reine, you can find this massive site of cod fish drying area.

Cod fish in the thousands

Nope. No flies. No birds!

Grisly heads

Workers hard at work hanging out the fish

Stockfish in Norway is unsalted fish that is dried in cold air and wind on wooden racks. It is world famous and of great quality. It is supposed to have a storage life of several years. It is fermented in a process whereby cold-adapted bacteria matures the fish (similar to cheese) Stockfish should not be wrongly mix with clipfish whereby this is salted before drying.

Stockfish dish with potato

Sakrisoy Rorbuer, Lofoten Islands

In Lofoten, we stayed two nights at the wooden cottages at Sakrisoy.
Each cabin can house four people or more, and has a kitchenette, fireplace and private shower room. If you wish to do some cooking, there is a Co-op supermart about 3km away at Reine where you can buy groceries and fresh vegetables.

Cottages of Sakrisoy Rorbuer, March 2016

One of the three cabins we booked

Interior of Sakrisoy

Before arriving at Sakrisoy, we had stopped by the Co-op supermart at Svolvaer and Reine to buy some groceries. There were some amazingly cheap cod fish packets sold at 35 NOK only (USD$4.10).

Our cod fish chilling out in the snow

Cod fish dinner

breakfast

This is the supermart at Reine. If you wished to walk from Sakrisoy, it could take you 20min to half an hour. Best to have a car which you can rent from the owner at Sakrisoy. As you can see below, the supermart opens only at 9am in the morning to 7pm on weekdays. Note that all supermarts close on Sundays.

The Co-op supermart at Reine. 

Now if you don't think you want to waste your time cooking, you can eat at the Underhuset restaurant at Sakrisoy. it is open everyday.

Underhuset just at Sakrisoy

Underhuset Restaurant

The chefs at Underhuset served very good seafood dishes.

Interior of Underhuset

At Lofoten, one should try the famous Bacalao or Stockfish dish. I will share another separate post on the cod fish season in Lofoten.

Stockfish dish

Salmon

This is the name card of the owner, Dagmar, of Sakrisoy. It is convenient to book the accommodations from Booking.com.

Below are some photos of Sakrisoy when I visited in Sep 2015. It was rainy and wet most days. Personally I preferred the winter months of March to Apr period cos it was dryer.

Hi :)

No. No sign of any fish in Sep :(

Norway - Lofoten Islands

If you travelled to Norway and did not visit the Lofoten Islands, then I would say you have missed out on a big major natural attraction.

The Lofoten is a string of islands north of the Norway near the Arctic Circle. It is of immense beauty and awe, with steep mountains and beaches wherever you go. 

Map of Lofoten, Norway

My family took a cruise on Hurtigruten from Bergen in March 2016. Passing by Alesund and Bodo, we dropped off at Svolvaer at Lofoten Islands for a three day visit. 


Our ship reached the admin city of Svolvaer at 9pm, and we walked to stay overnight at Thon Hotel. Thon Hotel was just next to the Hurtigruten ferry terminal and it was so convenient considering the cold and rain that night.

View of Svolvaer harbour from Thon Hotel at night.

Svolvaer 

View of Svolvaer harbour from Thon Hotel in the morning

Our ride for Lofoten

The next day we collected our rental cars from Avis which also was just 2 min walk from Hotel. From there we drove 2 and half hours towards the village of A to stay overnight at Sakrisoy. 

View along the way towards Sakrisoy

Finally we reached Sakrisoy after a slow 2 over hour drive. There weren't so many cars so the ride was easy and relaxed. One can hardly get bored as you could see breath-taking picture postcard views all  along the way.

Our beautiful yellow fisherman cabins at Sakrisoy Rorbuer

A few km further is the famous Reine whereby you can also find accommodations.

REINE in March, Lofoten Islands. 

Petrol kiosk at Reine

Reine 

Beautiful view