How do you like your herring? Brined, pickled, smoked? Me? I prefer mine brought to my table marinating in cream in some swanky, upper East Side restaurant. Today, these tasty little fish are processed and packed by machines, but up until fifty years ago, this arduous work was done by the hands of women…from young teens to seniors. On the docks of Siglufjörður, Iceland.
Small fishing town of Siglufjordur on the northern coast of Iceland
From 1903 until 1969, women from all over the north Atlantic region flocked to the tiny northern Icelandic town of Siglufjörður to spend long hours gutting and packing fish. Hardworking girls could knock down bigger paychecks than the fisherman unloading their prized catch!
These were the “Herring Girls” of the North Atlantic countries, the Scottish Shetlands, the Faroe Islands of Denmark, and Iceland. The hours were long and the work merciless. When the ships came in with their catch, the women set to work, no matter the hour or weather, sorting, filleting and packing the catch in brine-filled barrels.
Herring “Girls” of all ages in the 20’s during the boomtown years in Siglufjörður
At its peak, this small town at the northern end of Iceland’s most northern fjord became the capital of the herring industry, home to over 3000 people, exporting 25-45 percent of the world’s herring supply! From the 1910’s though the 60s Siglufjörður was like a gold rush town in the wild American west.
From small towns and family farms all over Iceland, women came to Siglufjörður for the opportunity to make money.
Today, statues in the town’s harbor salute the work of the “Herring Girls”
Margret Thoroddsdottir was born in Siglufjörður and worked for nine summers as a herring girl. She started when she was 14 in the summer of 1951. “As soon as the boats came in the girls were called to work. If it was at night, we were awakened by callers who had that specific duty. They would shout loudly, ‘Get up, get up – the herring has arrived!‘”
Gastro Obscura
The women were housed in Róaldsbrakki, which were rooms above the shipping offices. This cultural heritage is now preserved in the award-winning Herring Era Museum which I recently visited.
Dorm room, fifty girls to a house
Kitchen
Attic where the ironing, washing and bathing was done
Dock office below the dormitory and living quarters
One of the three buildings of the Herring Museum
The “Herring Girl” era ended in the summer of 1969 when the boats came back empty. The herring girls left overnight. The waters had been disastrously overfished and the area would never recover its place as the world’s herring capital.
Charming thatched cottage in the older part of town
View of the charming harbor, once the busiest herring fishing dock area in the world
Siglufjordur brightly colored restaurants and boats in Iceland’s northernmost town.
New hotel in the town center on the water
After a long period of decline, everything changed with the opening of the tunnel that connects Siglufjörður to the Northeast of Iceland and Akureyri. There’s a brand-new hotel and a booming new business…TOURISM!
The Herring Era Museum is open June – August from 10am to 6pm, May & September from 1pm-5pm. It’s a delightful way to spend 2-3 hours if you happen to be in this remote northern town.
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