Norfish Norway Cod Fishery 1520–1791

Norway’s engagement with cod fishing has dated back to at least the Viking Age. Cod has been an important resource and a vital source of sustenance for the local population for centuries. Based on the stable isotope analysis technique, cod bones dating back to medieval times have been recovered at sites that were populated during this time; the configuration of these bones, with heads removed, strongly infers that advanced processing involving salting and/or drying took place well before the early modern period in Norway