Fishing Cod by Sarfannguit

Contemporary use of Aasivissuit – Nipisat

Fishing Cod

Jens Fog Jensen & Paninnguaq Boassen

Coastal fisheries today in Greenland are done through traps, longlining, and other netting fisheries, though, 90% of the fish are caught through trapping. The season for cod fisheries is from April until Oktober, as the adult cod leave the open sea to swim into the fjords and spawn, making the fishers move their traps according to the placement of the cod either at the mouth of or at the innermost parts the fjord.  

The living fish in nets and on line are sorted by size and species, so the unwanted are thrown back into the sea while the big cods are put aside to be gutted, cleaned and iced. The fishers then sell the fresh fish to the local fish factory plant, and such a factory is also located in Sarfannguit. 

Fishers with cod traps have in recent years begun producing a large amount of ‘Nutaaq Cod’, a new productionsmethod that involves gathering cod in big storage nets until the ‘well ship’ comes by to empty the net using a big straw. This, relatively, new fishing method ensure the live fish are transported in a saltwater bassin on the ‘well ship’ into the fish factory in Maniitsoq where the skinny fish are filleted.