The fishermen - our most important partners

"Give someone a fish, and he will be full all day. Teach someone to fish, and he will be full for the rest of his life." Without the fisherman we are nothing! 

Every year from January to April, the big cod fishing takes place. Long days of hard work and little night's sleep. The struggle for existence. Pain in the body. Fairly extreme conditions. But this is what lays the foundation for the rest of the year. Both for us and for the fisherman. 

It is the fisherman who takes the job of pulling the fish up from the sea and inland. The fisherman is our most important partner. 

At Røst Sjømat, we want to provide the best possible service to our fishermen. An efficient reception is the first bid, where the boats will not have to be in the delivery queue. It is important for the fisherman, but also for us because time is a key factor when it comes to the quality of the fish. 

Good dialogue between fisherman and buyer is also important. This applies both to the economic aspect, but of course also to the processing of fish. 

We have good quay facilities, both for large and small boats, with electricity and fresh water. After all, the boat will be here for a while, so for us it is important that the fishermen and the boats have top facilities at the quay. 

Production of all fish requires good raw material, whether it goes to stockfish, salted fish or fresh fish in styrofoam. It is important that we treat the fish well, but perhaps even more important is the job the fisherman does at sea.

Bleeding is a very important part of the process. That is, the main artery is cut while the fish is alive. This is done so that the fish will pump out all the blood, without the blood spreading in the fish meat. If a fish is not bled, the blood will enter the meat, and the quality will not be good. After the gutting machines saw the light of day, we have an even better bleeding method by cutting the "neck", instead of inserting a knife only into the gills of the fish. This has meant that we get a more even quality of the fish we get in, and it gets to bleed out properly.

Gutting machines have also contributed on several other points. The gutting cut has bitten much finer, and much more stable. This helps to provide good drainage at the spine, at the same time as it should not provide access for flies. Proper head cutting is also important, which has also become much easier when using gutting machines. Here it is important to cut the vertebrae at the edge of the arch of the ear bones. This means that at least one vertebra is cut together with the head to ensure good drainage of water that comes out along the spine. Fish with a lack of drainage in the neck often become sour.

Gutting machines, tanks and conveyor belts have made production much more efficient, but also given a very positive impact on quality. The fish does not have to be broken by manual guttering, it avoids blows, and it gets plenty of rinsing throughout the process. Every single link, from the sea to the finished product, is important to take advantage of the athletic cod that comes swimming several miles every single winter.

Here you can see a video of parts of our production.