The Fécamp fisheries, historical museum of the city of Fécamp

The climate of Fécamp is too humid for drying cod, and for a long time, cod preserved in salt (or "green" cod) was produced, sold, and consumed. At the beginning of the 20th century, industrialists in Fécamp developed methods for producing dried cod for export. Joseph Duhamel founded the fishing company Les Pêcheries de Fécamp in 1913, and then in 1926, La Morue Normande, a company based in the port of Fécamp that dried the cod caught by the trawlers of Les Pêcheries.

The history of the La morue normande factory:

The La Morue Normande factory was built in 1950 at the corner of the Grand-Quai, on the site of the pre-war refrigerated warehouses of the Les Pêcheries de Fécamp fishing company. The project, entrusted to the Parisian architect André Hamayon, is characteristic of the post-war reconstruction style and consists of four levels supported by concrete columns, allowing for flexible layouts. Modern and functional, the drying facility enables the cod to follow a well-established processing circuit. Unloaded from the trawler opposite the factory, it undergoes a process from wet to dry before being loaded onto delivery trucks parked nearby. From the 1960s onward, processing activities diversified with the production of smoked herring in ovens and the increasing importance of freezing. In 1976, cod preservation ended and only herring and smoked salmon remained, the processing of which was relocated near Fécamp in 1982. The factory remained in operation to process frozen herring until 1996.

A preserved industrial past:

The building, the first object in the collections, preserves the memory of the women and men who worked there. In 2003, a research project led by Florence Calame-Levert collected the testimonies of the fishmongers. Excerpts are shown in the fishmongers' changing room, which has been preserved as it was and can be visited during European Heritage Days and Museum Night.

From factory to museum:

As part of the building's renovation, a panoramic view was added to its summit, while a series of ramps and staircases creates a circulation space between the different floors at its heart. At once a monument, a reminder of Fécamp's cod-fishing past, and a place for the preservation and promotion of a rich and varied heritage, the Les Pêcheries Museum welcomes all visitors curious to learn more.