Catch your own food – Greenland

By Laali Berthelsen Verified Expert

A beautiful evening for hunting and fishing.

The biggest industry in Greenland is hunting and fisheries. So many families priorities a boat before getting a car, especially the smaller towns and settlements.

Some places in Greenland we don´t use the supermarket as much as the rest of the world. In the settlements especially the inhabitants catch pretty much everything they need for dinner and only uses the supermarket to buy soap, coffee, cereal, sugar etc.

This is the harbor in Aasiaat, most of the open boats are used for fishing while the ones with hood are used for weekend tours and transportation from town to another to visit friends and families.

On the picture, there aren´t that many fisher boats, probably because they are out fishing 🙂

The red building is the seaman’s home, which originally was mostly used by fishermen and sailors, who came and read the newspaper, called home to their family, and got themselves a cup of coffee. They are located close to the harbor and are today used as accommodation for anyone.

This is a normal sight in Greenland. In this country, we fish all year round. Our biggest income is from exporting fish. But some are not for sale but for private use. Many private homes hang their catch outside their home, and it can be fish, whale, seal, reindeer, musk ox, you name it.

My favorite Greenlandic food is what you see in the picture above. It is dried reindeer meat, and I love to eat it with whale skin “Mattak” with an apple and Aromat, which is a salted spicy.
In Greenland, we have quotas for the catch of many animals and mammals, but with reminder hunt, it is a bit different. A hunter has to apply for his catch and he/she will get a pass for 5 deers when this is done you just apply for a new pass. It´s just to have the number for how many reindeers caught for the season. The hunting season is from 1st of August to 1stof October, and many are going out by boat camping on the 31st of July, ready to shoot at midnight.

For booking your own fishing experience, check our tour here.

Try some of our tours offering Greenlandic food.

If you are interested in camping in Greenland, check out our tours here.