Luis Blasco Norway
Norway
Updated Saturday, April 6, 2024-00:15
Adventure Built into a fishing boat: this is the titanic skrei cod fishing in Norway
Flights The latest 'low cost' controversy: the extra cost per connection that they should not force you to pay (and they do)
Edvard, 11 years old, answers without hesitation and with a shy smile when asked what he wants to do when he grows up: "Football
.
"
-Do you want to be a soccer player?
- No, I want to go to football coaching school.
Like a dozen other children from Husøy, he works at the BR-Karslen fish factory cutting tongues, an old tradition in Norway that goes back decades and is often passed down from father to son. To the little boy, far from finding it tedious, he confesses that he "loves it."
In a large space in the factory, a gigantic box stores hundreds of heads of
skrei cod
that have been previously processed in the factory.
Edvard and three kids skillfully cut this part of the animal as if they had been doing it all their lives. He, the smallest of the four, handles himself with the same ease as his companions, now well into their teens.
The task seems simple, but it has its mechanics, as Edvard teaches. With his thumb and index finger, he grabs the head by the eyes, decisively sticks the underside of it into a pointed metal spike and with a long,
sharp knife
cuts off the tongue with a precise cut. Like this again and again.
In less than 10 seconds the tongue remains on the pike and the head passes into a bucket located to one side of the kids. An apron protects Edvard's suit from possible traces of blood or viscera.
At the rate they are going, the gigantic box is empty in less than
15 minutes
. The four of them have a couple of minutes of rest which they use to sharpen their knives. A mechanical bull is responsible for filling the box again.
Detail of how Edvard cuts the tongue of the skrei.LB cod
This activity, strange and even shocking for visitors, is a tradition in fishing towns like Husøy. "They start cutting tongues when they are approximately 10 years old," says
Randy Karlsen
, one of the sisters who owns the factory.
They usually participate until they turn
16
, when they go to other larger cities to start high school. "When they turn 16 they usually come some weekends," notes Randy.
In the past, this position was reserved for the children of
fishermen
or factory workers. However, it is now "open to all the children of Husøy," explains Randy.
Extracurricular activity
Up to 16 years of age, the activity is organized by the
local
school
and is completely voluntary. They only go for a few hours, they cannot work on weekends and they always go "under the knowledge and approval of their parents."
In this way, everyone who signs up can participate in a task that not only brings them a good amount of money.
"It's a way to introduce them to the fishing industry," says Randy, in addition to teaching them the "
value of work and effort
" to earn a salary.
The little ones can earn up to 55 euros for a day of work, depending on the languages they cut. The older ones can cut more than
70 kilos
in a day. The smallest ones, in their first days, about 4-5 kilos. Edvard, quite skilled with a sharp knife, cuts between 30 and 40 kilos.
Some children spend part of that money on consoles, phones or other devices. Many others save it for their
future studies
or to buy a car.
The tongues that Edvard and his companions cut stay in the
factory
. In other fishing areas, children take a portion to sell among their neighbors.
When his shift ends, his
father
picks him up at the factory. "He is a good boy and a very hard worker," he says as he leaves the locker room.
It is 5:00 p.m. and it is
dark night
in Husøy. Tomorrow, Edvard will return to the factory to cut tongues. In his eyes, the hope that this job will help him fulfill his dream: to train the next Haaland.
You can follow El Mundo Viajes on
,
and