Fish flake

A fish flake is a platform built on poles and spread with boughs for drying cod on the foreshore of fishing villages and small coastal towns in Newfoundland and Nordic countries. Spelling variations for fish flake in Newfoundland include flek, fleyke, fleake, flaik and fleack Its first recorded use in connection with fishing appeared in Richard Whitbourne's book Newfoundland (1623, p. 57). In Norway, a flake is known as a hjell.

The flake consists of a horizontal framework of small poles (called lungers), sometimes covered with spruce boughs, and supported by upright poles, the air having free access beneath. Here the cod are spread out to bleach in the sun and air after the fish has been curing all summer in stages under a heavy spreading of salt. There are two types of common known flakes during the height of the fishing season, one was a permanent structure as described above and the other called a hand flake that could be erected on short notice and provided for more area in the event that a fishing season was rather profitable.

The fish flake was a permanent structure that was part of the landscape of a fishing village. These were not located too far away from the fishing stages that were built on the shoreline. The flake was built high off the ground and required stable construction with a sloping ramp to gain access to it. The ramp was required such that fishermen carried a full load of fish on barrows was able to negotiate its accent. At one end of the flake was built a building that served dual purposes. The construction of the building, called fish store, was of two story construction and had to be large enough to accommodate a season's voyage of fish on the top level. In the lower section of the fish store was kept the gear that was used for fishing, buoy's, ropes, killicks, grapples and other miscellany items.

The top level of the store was of an open structure with areas that could be sectioned off to contain neat stacks of dried fish. As the drying process was depended on the weather, dry fish may spend up to two months in this facility. At the start of the drying season, usually mid August to early September the fish would be carried to the flakes and spread out for drying.

The hand flake was only built and utilized when the amount of fish caught during a season called for it; as such these were considered temporary structures. Hand flakes were built low to the ground at about waist height with the surface area about the width of a person's reach stretched in various lengths. These were placed in very tight rows to maximize available land. These were conveniently located next to or in close proximity to the main flake for quick storage of the fish whenever the weather was inclement. It was very vital that the fish be kept dry during the curing process to prevent rot and most importantly to prevent fly spits that would lead to maggots. Any of these occurrences could ruin a harvest.

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