Our Visit to Viking Village on Long Beach Island

Viking Village was founded in the 1920”s by a group of Norwegian fishermen who selected the area because it reminded them of their homeland.

In the beginning they planned to fish for whale but it turned out that lobster was more prevalent.

Over the years the lobsters became scarce but by adapting the fishing gear the fishermen were able to fish for sea bass which lasted well into the 50’s.

Over the years the company expanded to include gillet, scallops and longline fishing which is one of the most conservative types of fishing. These boats operate from Nova Scotia searching for yellowfin and bigeye tuna, albacore, swordfish, mako sharks, mahi and tilefish.

About 5 million pounds of fish are packed and shipped.from Viking Village everyday to major markets such as New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D. C., Baltimore, the Midwest and northern California.





To keep the fish fresh Viking Village has two 22 ton
Ice machines for use in deliveries. Two separate ice machines can handle 11 tons per day. To meet Viking Village standards 66 tons of ice per day must be produced.

Viking Village gives free ice to the “net fish” boats because they do not want them scrimping on the all important ice needed to keep the fish at peak freshness.

Viking Village ships to places such as Las Vegas. Wyoming and Las Angeles by FedEx.

Viking Village is home to the scalloper fishing vessel “Lindsay L” portrayed as the “Hanna Bodan” in the movie “The Perfect Storm”. While filming Warner Brothers experienced actual
hurricane force winds.

The tiny little fishing shacks located at the docks date back to the founding days and are now little souvenir and gift shops.