Grundens – Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium

I asked the Cod Father where the heads go.

“Nigeria,” he laments with a sigh. “Ahh, yes. We sell them to the Nigerians. They come all the way up here to buy the heads for soup. You know,” he grunts with a pause. “Fish head soup.”

All the way up here was speaking very literally. I was in Lofoten, an archipelago in northwestern Norway, a carved land where plummeting cliffs meet dark azul waters, and sea eagles circle at snow lines searching for prey.

We were hanging with Gier the Cod Father of Lofoten, a masterful fisherman who scours the frigid waters all year long, especially from February thru April when the world famous cod fish enter the fjords to mate. At times the temperatures reach far below zero, freezing the water’s surface, along with his buoys and long nets.

Geir continued, “Our fish are the finest quality called skrei. It dries on large racks in the perfect temperature. This is what makes our stockfish so prized. The Italians pay premium, and this trade with Nigerians, Italians and others has been happening for centuries.”

But as I learn from Geir and my research, this skrei is facing a dilemma. In the past few years, temperatures have fluctuated, becoming unseasonably warm when winter temps should reign, and dropping to frigid numbers when the sun should be high. It rains when it should be dry, and it’s arid when it needs to be wet. This, unsurprisingly, effects the outdoor drying process of the cod fishery, putting the Lofoten’s largest and oldest fishery on edge. For more visit the Grundens gallery

Grundens recreational and commercial fishing clothing line in Norway

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Grundens Campaign Pt I – Guatemala

You go through the orders of meetings and conference calls. You wait and wait, a confirmation biting the nails. Will I or will I not? Because I can see it. The palm trees, an array of dancing heat waves rising from the sand. An illusion of adventure, wanderlust, a new pathway in what you love to do most. The fight. The fish. They pull your lines taut and fill you with cravings to want more. All that anticipation pulses your blood and boils down to one simple email. An itinerary. Departure dates, arrival times and the unknown expedition ahead. It’s your confirmation. Guatemala.

What transpires is a journey into peoples’ lives and the characters discovering about what they love most in this world; that is fishing. They travel around the world. They take hours upon hours, days to weeks to months of their lives to reach the furthest shoreline to cast a line, throw a leader, and let the water speak about its’ darkest kept secrets. These individuals are fishing. They do it for an occupation. They do it for recreation. They do it alone, with colleagues and family members, sharing in the thrill of the catch. This is passion.

And with Grundens’ new release of a warm-water recreational clothing line, whose tradition weighs in the dense northern waters of commercial cold-water fishing, I head south with them first to the evanescent blue waters off Guatemala to participate in the annual Billfish Invitational Tournament, whose goal is to educate the growing community about the ocean’s rich economic resources off Guatemala. We’re talking about catch-and-release bill-fishing. Giant black and blue marlin and sailfish being the two geese that lay the region’s golden eggs.

Hosted by Pacific Fins Resort in Iztapa, Guatemala, a cast of fishermen embark to share with people how much they appreciate the sea and its resources, for the sake of thrill or occupation, and the need to promote a sustainable industry for the local and global economy. Without fish, there is no sea. Without fish, there is no fisherman. For more visit Grundens’ Guatemala gallery.