Stockfish, which is air-dried fish, is the oldest commercial export product of Norway, with roots back to the Middle Ages. Northern Norway has always been the main region for this stockfish production.
However, the trade was controlled by the fish merchants in the western part of the country, with the town Bergen as the most important centre. This trade established a long-lasting connection between Norway and the European continent, which remains important. After the Second World War, the government initiated a huge transition from the old drying method to frozen fish processing. The picture shows drying racks in the town of Vadsø in Finnmark in the late 1940s.
Credit: Photographer Leif Hauge, Archive: Troms og Finnmark fylkesbibliotek, Id. No: 06029404
