Lumpfish roe in the kitchen

The lumpfish roe's crisp little pearls have a salty, yet sweet, taste with a strong umami flavour. The roe has a natural high content of omega-3 fatty acids and is also a great source of iodine and selenium. The lumpfish roe from Royal Greenland has a natural, dusty pink colour, which is mainly due to the lumpfish's feed. 

The lumpfish roe is well-accompanied by sour, creamy or crisp flavours. The roe is a fine garnish for a delicate entrée, or as an addition to a main course with fish or shellfish. It can also be enjoyed on its own in a classic appetiser such as blinis with roe, crème fraîche and finely chopped red onion.

Lumpfish roe products

Royal Greenland's lumpfish roe comes in a range of different products. As a unique feature, Royal Greenland controls the entire process from sea to table, ensuring products of the highest quality, with full traceability. The lumpfish roe is available in a variety of variants, including natural, AZO-free colours and low content of salt.

Lumpfish in the sea

The lumpfish is easily recognisable by its short, round body, and short fins, which make it a rather weak swimmer. To make up for its lack of swimming ability, the lumpfish has a round sucker disk on the underside of the body, so that it can attach to large rocks and seaweed.

The lumpfish is found in the North Atlantic, from Canada to the west to Norway to the east. It lives both close to the shore and further out in the sea, at depths from 50 to 300 metres on the rocky seabed. The female, characterized by blue and green hues, can grow up to 50 centimeters long and weigh as much as 5 kg, making her considerably larger than the male. In contrast, the male is usually around 35 centimeters and 2 kg, and is characterized by red and brown hues.

The lumpfish spawns during the spring, when it swims into shallow waters. Sexual maturity is connected to size, rather than age, and the female is typically mature at a length of around 38 centimetres, where the male is mature at around 28 centimetres. The female carries the roe, which can be up to 25 % of her entire weight, during the spawning season. The female spawns up to 200,000 eggs at a time for a period of 8 - 14 days. The male fertilises the eggs and guards them until they hatch. After spawning, the lumpfish returns to deeper waters.

Fishery

The lumpfish is only fished inshore and mainly by local fishermen. The preferred catching method is gill nets, which consist of a long and upright wall of netting that is lowered onto the seabed. The lumpfish becomes entangled in the netting, which due to the mesh size is targeted specifically at the desired species. Each fisherman controls often 10 - 15 nets that they supervise on a daily basis, to make sure the nets are set properly and emptied. When the gill nets are emptied, the catch is hauled on board and the roe is removed carefully from the gutted fish. The lumpfish is cleaned and stored on ice.