Abstract
Stockfish from Lofoten (tørrfisk fra Lofoten) comes from the largest cod fishery in the world where, as far back as the Vikings, cod has been traditionally dried on racks for several months. Thanks to the ideal temperature, wind and local know-how, the fish could be kept for several years. The product is thus different from clipfish (klippfisk)/bacalao, the reference product in this study, which is both salted and dried and which was imported into Norway in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Dried stockfish from Lofoten was the first Norwegian product to obtain a European Protected Geographical Indication in the EU, although it had already been recognized in Norway as a national PGI since 2007 (https://www.matmerk.no/no/beskyttedebetegnelser/godkjente-produkter/torrfisk-fra-lofoten). An organization of 18 producers and the fact that it is mainly an export product explain the need for international recognition. Already a source of the country’s wealth several hundred years ago, dried fish from Lofoten is still today a key economic and cultural resource, especially thanks to the export trade, chiefly with Italy and Nigeria. In 2017 Norway exported more than 4650 tons stockfish, including 3000 tons from Lofoten. The sustainability performance of Stockfish from Lofoten is mixed: while it outperforms its reference on price premium, carbon footprint and food miles, it faces more challenges than its reference regarding gender equality and educational attainment.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The cod come from the Barents Sea to the Lofoten islands to spawn, as the area is perfectly adapted to their needs and the development of their eggs. Cod eggs first float on the surface, and develop on the Lofoten sandbanks before they grow up in the depths of the sea.
- 3.
- 4.
Our simple translation from Svemmende Dyr i det Nordlandske Hav- Peter Dass, Nordlands trompet – Lofoten- source: https://kalliope.org/da/text/dass2001081407
- 5.
Translation into English by W. C. Green 1893 from the original Icelandic ‘Egils saga Skallagrímssonar’. Egil’s Saga manuscript is from 1240 AD. Online at http://www.sagadb.org/files/pdf/egils_saga.en.pdf
- 6.
Today Norway’s second-largest city, but at that time the largest, thanks to the tons of dried fish that passed through the northern part of Norway
- 7.
Ibid, p. 22–24.
- 8.
Ibid., p. 17.
- 9.
Ibid., p. 68.
- 10.
Personal communication from Anne Karine Statle, secretary of Tørrfisk fra Lofoten and project leader of “LofotenMat”.
- 11.
Discussion with Rune Stockvold, Chairman of the Stockfish from Lofoten PGI consortium.
- 12.
Discussion with Rune Stockvold.
- 13.
- 14.
They have an excellent webpage on: http://glea.no
- 15.
Information from Anne Karine Statle secretary of Tørrfisk fra Lofoten PGI – Interview 29.11.17.
- 16.
Our translation.
- 17.
Sources: PGI Tørrfisk fra Lofoten official specifications.
- 18.
Pedersen B.T. 2013 Lofotfisket. Pax forlag AS.
- 19.
For example, in 1980 the number of authorized vessels was approximately 27,000 and only 3600 participated (Pedersen 2013, p.154).
- 20.
Conversion factor: 6,41 Final product ratio: G48: 1/6,41 = 0,156 (approx. 15%) per kg fresh fish-source: https://www.fiskeridir.no/English/Fisheries/Norwegian-conversion-factors
- 21.
http://seafood.no/markedsinnsikt/apne-rapporter/manedsstatistikk/. For the calculations of the sustainability diagrams we used figures for 2016, which do not however differ significantly from 2017.
- 22.
It is difficult to obtain exact numbers, as official figures focus on export. The figures are based on discussions with two experts: Lorena Gallart Jornet, researcher at FHF (fishery research) and Rune Stockvold, chair of the Stockfish from Lofoten consortium.
- 23.
Lutefisk is a delicacy in Norway, made from stockfish soaked in cold water first, then in lye, and then cooked. It is the most common way to eat stockfish in Norway.
- 24.
Information from PGI consortium.
- 25.
- 26.
- 27.
- 28.
- 29.
Source: Rune Stockvold, chairman of the Tørrfisk fra Lofoten consortium.
- 30.
https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norges_R%C3%A5fisklag; For Lofoten it is Norges Råfisklag who organizes the firsthand sales of fish. The co-operative is owned by the following fishermen’s organizations: Norges Fiskarlag, Norsk Sjømannsforbund, Fiskebåtredernes Forbund og Norges Kystfiskarlag.
- 31.
- 32.
Stockfish from Lofoten consortium plan to have a «ready to use» product for the Norwegian market by 2018. (Example Halvors tradisjonsfisk) Source: Personal communication from Anne Karine Statle secretary of Tørrfisk fra Lofoten and project leader of “LofotenMat”.
- 33.
Information from Rune Stockvold, chairman of the Tørrfisk fra Lofoten consortium and Anne Karine Statle secretary of Tørrfisk fra Lofoten and project leader of “LofotenMat”.
- 34.
On the webpage glea.no.
- 35.
For this indicator, the reference used at the P1 level is the educational attainment of workers in the processing industry (in Lofoten vs Norway in total), as specific data for the fishing industry was unavailable.
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Further Reading
Berge, G. (1996). Tørrfisk: thi handlet du red’lig, og tørket din fisk: en bok om tørrfiskkultur, Nord-Norge og Bergen . [Dried fish: the way to nuy and dry your fish]. Orkana. https://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-nb_digibok_2008072304070
Deinboll, P. W. (1839). Om Behandlingen og Tilvirkningen af Saltvandsfisk. En Veiledning for den fiskende Almue i Norge. Christiania: Johan Dahls Bogtrykkeri. 53 s. [On the preparation of salt water fish. How to treat stockfish, bacalao, roe etc.] Note: He was prest and biologist.
Dreyer, B. (2000) Comment to Martinussen T. et al., Norsk eksport av tørrfisk til Italia, Økonomisk Firskeriforskning 10:2, s.209–211.
Hyvik Anders, J. (2004). Den store oppskriftboken for retter av klippfisk og stokkfisk. [Cookery book for salted fish and dried fish] Brevik og Omegn Sjømandsforening.
Sven, R. E., Henry, N., & Ulla, V.. (2008). Tørrfisk til begjær. [Dried fish for pleasure]. Oslo: Messel forlag.
Acknowledgments
This chapter about the PGI product «Tørrfisk fra Lofoten» could not have been written without the valuable coontributions of Nina Wærnes Hegdahl, lawyer in charge of quality labels at Matmerk, Rune Stockvold, chairman of the Tørrfisk fra Lofoten consortium and Anne Karine Statle secretary of Tørrfisk fra Lofoten. Moreover, we would like to thank our Strength2Food colleagues Burkhard Schaer and Valentin Bellassen for their comments as well as all those who coordinated the indicator study for their work: V. Bellassen, A. Bodini, S. Chiussi, M. Donati, M. Drut, M. Duboys de Labarre, M. Hilal, S. Monier-Dilhan, P. Muller, T. Poméon and M. Veneziani.
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Amilien, V., Vittersø, G., Tangeland, T. (2019). PGI Lofoten Stockfish in Norway. In: Arfini, F., Bellassen, V. (eds) Sustainability of European Food Quality Schemes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27508-2_26
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