Not everything in Lofoten can be stunningly beautiful. Certainly the remnants of the annual cod slaughter, with fish heads and deeply blood stained snow, go some way to introduce a sense of reality to this fairy tale landscape. But there is something fascinating about this very uniquely Lofoten tradition of hanging up the salt cod in the Winter. This year the whole process has been delayed and many of the racks lie empty. All this despite there being huge numbers of cod available to catch off this chain of islands. A combination of snow and freezing weather has delayed the salting and hanging process. One local told me that too much frost on the fish ruins the quality. Nor has the fishing industry escaped the global financial crisis with markets and prices down! But for the first time today Spring has arrived, a thaw is in progress and all over the Lofoten Archipelago men are hanging salted cod.www.KAYAK.im
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