Stockfish, heads & other
STOCKFISH is gutted, beheaded fish (round or split) produced air dried outdoors on wooden racks in Iceland and Norway. During the drying process, all the nutrients from the fresh fish are retained and the fish is left with a concentrated taste.
Stockfish is without additional salt and is free from artificial additives. The production process is resource friendly and beyond all doubt the least energy-demanding food manufacturing procedure in the world.
Iceland and Norway are the best places in the world for Stockfish production. The air must not be too dry and the temperature must be relatively low so that the fish is not ruined by maggots and flies. The air must be warm enough to avoid freezing. A continuous cold air and wind, with a touch of seaborne saltiness, provides the best results.
Stockfish is Iceland's oldest export product and was for century's the main one.
The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method and Stockfish can be keeps for several years if stored in the correct conditions.
Cod is the most common fish used in stockfish production, but other whitefish, such as Saithe/Pollock (Sei), Haddock, Ling and Tusk, are also used. Nigeria has the biggest buyers of Stockfish, but other countries are Italy, Croatia, USA, UK, France and Germany.
When the stockfish is ready for shipping it is sorted by quality, length and weight and packed in Hessian bales of 45kg net so that air can pass through to keep the fish dry.
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FISH HEADS are products which some people classify as fish waste, or offal of heads and bones, which when dried, have a very specific market in Nigeria. Fish flavoured stock is produced and added to a favourite stew delicacy. The products are dried indoors in specially designed drying chambers which give the fish long life without refrigeration.
It has become more common to dry indoors as drying time is reduced and more steady supply of products is achieved throughout the year. It also results in more even quality as weather conditions have no effect. External factors during outdoor drying that are difficult or impossible to influence such as flies are no longer a problems when dried indoors and risk of frost damage is no longer there.
The fish is packed in Hessian bales of 30kg net so that air can pass through to keep the fish dry.
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OTHER
We also supply Stockfish trimmings, fillets, collarbones, backbones and steaks (cutlets). Supplied in 30kg bags and ready for packing into smaller units.