Small scale seasonal fishery in an Arctic environment

The lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) lives widespread in the North- and East Atlantic, and it is very common along the West coast of Greenland. It is mainly caught for its roe, eaten in much the same way as traditional sturgeon caviar, but the jelly-like meat of the large female is appreciated in Asian markets as well.
The lumpfish is a remarkable creature – almost round with scale-less skin and rows of knobby protrusions, called tubercles, all over. On the underside of its body, it has a round sucker disc that can hold up to 18 kg. By attaching itself to rocks or seaweed with the disc, the lumpfish, who is a weak swimmer, avoids being carried off by currents. The fishery, which takes place from March to June, targets the large females rather than the smaller males, as the females contain large amounts of the coveted roe.

Fishery

The fishery for lumpfish is performed from small boats and dinghies using nets set with buoys and anchors. The fish is entangled in the net when it enters the shallow coastal areas during spring (March to July) to spawn. Most fishermen operate 10-15 nets that are emptied daily, weather permitting, in order to ensure that the roe is perfectly fresh when it arrives at the processing facility ashore. The fisherman removes the fish from the net and carefully takes out the roe from the large females. The roe is stored in clean barrels kept at low temperature until delivered at the factory.

Important livelihood

In the smaller Greenlandic settlements, some with no more than 100-200 inhabitants, lumpfish is among one of the few species that can be landed, due to limited processing facilities. Therefore, lumpfish fishery is very important in sustaining more isolated communities along the west coast.

The fact that cleansing and salting of roe does not require freezing facilities makes the small scale productions in the smallest settlements fully competitive against the larger and more advanced landing facilities. Royal Greenland operates more than 10 lumpfish factories of various sizes where roe is bought from local fishermen. In the small factories the staff will increase from 1-2 in the low season to up to 10 people in roe season. Much effort is being implemented in the few weeks of lumpfish fishery, and the most vigorous fishermen deliver up to 10 tons of roe and make a considerable share of their yearly income. When the short season comes to an end, most fishermen switch to other species such as cod or halibut for dried and/or salted fish for the Greenlandic home-market, hunt for game or takes on jobs in the community.
Roe can be frozen fresh directly in Greenland at some of the larger Royal Greenland roe facilities or salted and shipped to the company's factory in Cuxhaven, Germany where it can be flavoured and/or dyed and preserved in jars. Close cooperation with local fishermen and own production setup ensures strong vertical integration and full traceability.