As soon as the ships returned, the barrels of fish were unloaded and taken to workshops. There they were emptied. The fish was brushed, weighed, sorted by size and put back into the barrels in dry salt.
Dunkirk sailors brought back salt from Setubal in Portugal because they thought it was of better quality than the salt from Brittany.
Cod prepared in the Dunkirk manner was an expensive luxury dish which suffered no competition from other ports. It was sold in the hinterland, in the east of France and in Paris.
Fish treatment shed in Gravelines. Photo: Private Collection.
Unloading of fishermen's personal effects.
Photo by Charles Cuvellier. Port Museum Collection.