Bergen Fishmarket

The market (No: "Fisketorget") on the harbour is lively with trade all the year 'round but in the summer season it blossoms even more with crowded and colourful street life. Traditionally a place where farmers and fishermen come in from the surrounding districts to sell their produce.

This is the famous "Fish Market" where fish are kept alive in tanks so that a Bergenser's dinner is absolutely fresh, and slab after slab of tempting fruits of the sea are laid out on the stalls. There are several watertanks with alive lobsters, crabs, and cod for you to choosefor dinner.

fishmarket in bergen norway

Some fish types found in Norway and on the fishmarket in Bergen:

Salmon (Laks)
There are few tastes which compare with the taste of Norwegian Salmon or Ocean Trout. This delicacy is keenly appreciated by international chefs and gourmets who relish its delicate color and fine texture. By having a rigid enforcement of their cold, clear coastal waters, the Norwegians have succeeded in producing a superior quality salmon.

salmon fishmarket

Cod (Torsk)
Stays mainly near the sea bottom, where the cod lives off what it can find there or it moves higher up in the sea among the prey fish such as herring and coley. Total depth variation is from the surface to 150 metres deep

cod fishmarket

Monkfish (Breiflabb)
The Monkfish or Anglerfish, (Breiflabb) can easily be recognised by its enormous head, which represents half its entire length. Monkfish are found in tidal waters and down to depths of 600 metres, but during spawning season in the spring, they may go as deep as 2500 metres.

monkfish norway

Mackrel (Makrell)
The most renown fish in southern Norway is probably mackerel, and it improves throughout the summer. Mackerel can be willing to bite and often provides large hauls. Fishing for sea trout can be challenging in the spring and summer.

mackrel bergen

Norwegian healthy lunch pack favourite: Makrell i tomat = mackerel in tomato sauce (similar to tinned sardines) spread on fresh wholemeal bread.

mackrell in tomato norway

Prawns (Reker)
Deep-water prawns (Reke) are found in the fjords, offshore banks and in the Arctic regions. The pink deep-water prawn is the most common prawn in most catches. Deep-water prawns thrive in cold water and occasionally disappear altogether from known shrimping fields in the south of Norway if the water temperature gets too high.

prawns norway

The fishmarket in Bergen is a culinary phenomen and in many ways a unique watermark for Bergen. Here you are able to catch the latest fresh fish, lobsters and crustaceos of the underwater world brought to daylight fo you to enjoy.

fishmarket bergen

The history of the fishmarket is as old as Bergen itself, only located slightly different due to waterline shift.

Between 1630 and until 1911 (nearly 300 years) there was a law which hindered rich "Bergenser" to purchase fish here, only the poor and for daily houshold use, was the rule. This rule applied for a distance of 40km from the market.