From January to April, the harbour area and open ground around Røstlandet is hung with thousands of split cod on wooden racks, drying in the relentless Arctic wind. The stockfish industry has been the economic foundation of Røst since at least the Viking Age, and the process has changed remarkably little. The combination of the Gulf Stream (which keeps temperatures mild enough for the fish not to freeze) and the constant wind (which dries them without rotting) creates conditions that cannot easily be replicated anywhere else.
Walking past the drying racks is an experience — the smell is powerful and unmistakable, the fish hanging in dense rows for months until they reach the hard, preserved state that allows them to be stored for years. The bulk of Røst's stockfish is exported to Italy, where baccalà and stoccafisso are central to regional cuisines in the Veneto, Liguria, and the south. If you visit in winter or spring, you can watch the whole process from boat to rack to packing.