Do you want to be a seaweed harvester?
Tamara SingerTable of Contents
When do we harvest?
Spring (February – April)
During the first harvest of the year we focus on red algae – mainly truffle seaweed and nori – which can be picked from the rocky shores of the Nappstraumen. No wetsuits or swimming necessary for these seaweed harvests, but plenty of warm layers are a must as you’ll be out for hours at a time in cold weather. You’ll be traversing rocks that can be very slippery, so it helps if you’re sure-footed! Daylight hours are short at this time of year, and both truffle seaweed and nori are always in high demand, so we might need you to harvest in low light from time to time. Don’t worry – we’ll provide the head torches!
At this time of year in Lofoten you’ll be able to enjoy winter activities like cross-country skiing, ice skating, and kick-sledding. From late February Lofoten’s famous cod fishery begins, so it’s a great time of year for anyone who wants to take part in this historic activity. Northern lights are visible in February and March (providing the skies are clear) so you’ll be able to tick that off your bucket list! The weather is unpredictable and can be extreme in this season, and some of Lofoten’s most famous hikes (e.g. the Reinebringen) are not safe to attempt, so plan for some cozy evenings indoors.
Summer (April – June)
During this harvest you’ll be donning wetsuits and gloves, hopping on a boat and getting up to your neck in the Arctic Ocean – literally! We collect the larger kelp species in these months – winged kelp, sugar kelp and oarweed, to be specific. You’ll be half-submerged in water, moving through thick kelp forests in choppy water, so it’s important that you’re a confident swimmer. Using our sustainable methods you’ll collect hundreds of kilos of seaweed over a few weeks – our current record is 13 tons! Once the seaweed-laden buckets are back at our production facility, you’ll need to weigh and measure every haul so we can record it in our database, then you’ll spread the seaweed out on racks in our drying room. The schedule isn’t fixed – we go when the conditions are right: low tide, fair weather, light winds. This means you’ll be in for the occasional early start and late finish, but at this time of year, there’s daylight around the clock.
There are few places on Earth more spectacular than Lofoten on a fine summer’s day. With 24-hour daylight from mid-May to mid-July, and high temperatures up to 25C, it can be easy to forget just how far north you are. Lofoten comes alive in the summer, with seasonal restaurants open for business and the public holiday celebrating Norwegian independence on the 17th May. Be warned – as nice as the sunny days are, the weather is still unpredictable, and the temperature can drop suddenly to around 10C, with cold rain and strong winds. Whether you get to experience fine weather or not is luck of the draw, but with the right mindset you can still enjoy the outdoors in poor weather. As the locals say – there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing!
Autumn (September – October)
In the autumn we have one more window in which to collect seaweed, and this time it’s back on land to focus on truffle seaweed and nori again. Red algae grows throughout the year, but it’s during the colder months that its flavour is the strongest. From the end of September onwards it’s a race against time to pick as much seaweed as possible before it gets too dark and cold to continue.
This time of year in Lofoten is a mixed bag. It’s a favourite time of year for the locals as the busy tourist season is over, and some peace returns to the islands. The weather can be fair, and it’s a great time of the year for hiking, but if you’re less lucky then you may encounter some stormy weather. Snow can come from as early as October, but on the flip-side, the Northern Lights are visible from late August. Temperatures can vary wildly (as at all times of the year in Lofoten) but will most likely hover around 8 – 10C.
