Klädesholmen’s history is deeply intertwined with herring. Throughout generations, the islanders have nurtured and cultivated the herring culture with utmost care, always valuing craftsmanship and reverence for this precious resource.
1500s, the first herring period
The early settlement of Klädesholmen remains somewhat mysterious due to the lack of historical sources. However, in the year 1594, Klädesholmen is mentioned as an “old fishing village” in a travelogue by Bishop Jens Nilssøns of the Oslo Diocese, to which Klädesholmen belonged until 1658. In the same year, the island was also marked on a Dutch nautical chart. It is known that around this time, there was a significant herring period*, approximately between 1556-1589.
*A herring period is a time when large herring shoals come close to the coast. In Sweden, herring periods are mostly known from Bohuslän, where they brought a considerable economic upswing. Between herring periods, herring would often stay far from the coast, making it challenging to catch with the fishing methods used before the late 1800s. Bohuslän’s herring periods from the 1500s onwards occurred roughly during these years: 1556-1589, 1660-1680, 1747-1809, and 1877-1906.
1600s, permanent settlement
During the first half of the 1600s, Klädesholmen is relatively silent in historical sources. It is in the mid-1600s that documents confirm the permanent settlement on the island.
In 1658, at the Peace of Roskilde, Bohuslän became Swedish. In the first land register established the following year, Klädesholmen was referred to as “Klessholmen”. Shortly after, the Bohus Coast experienced a brief herring period. In the summer of 1666, the Swedish Board of Trade sent its vice president, Israel Lagerfelt, on a journey to Bohuslän to encourage the population to fish herring. One of the places Lagerfelt visited was Klädesholmen.
1700s, herring salteries and fish boiling houses
In the mid-1700s, the truly significant herring fishing period began, greatly impacting Klädesholmen. Many people moved to the fishing grounds, and on Klädesholmen and other places in the archipelago, numerous herring salteries and fish boiling houses were built. Herring was salted at the salteries, and oil was extracted from the herring at the fish boiling houses. The oil was used as lighting oil, for paint, tanning, and soap production.
1800s, hardship and fish processing
At the beginning of the 1800s, herring disappeared from the coast and due to this people left the archipelago. Saltery and fish boiling house buildings were abandoned, and several communities literally disappeared. Those who stayed experienced poverty, famine, and diseases. Klädesholmen was particularly affected by hardship. Several accounts describe how people suffered from hunger and diseases. During the cholera epidemic in 1834, over 15 percent of Klädesholmen’s population died, and its people were among the poorest in the country.
From the mid-1800s, large lake fishing started developing, along with the processing of dried and salted fish. Towards the late 1870s, the herring returned to Bohuslän, and a new era began for Klädesholmen. The larger warehouses, which started to be built, were used for salting herring and processing fish for herring canning, a practice that continued even after the herring periods ended around the turn of the century.
1900s, the canning industry
With the 1900s came the seasoning of herring and sprat, and at the same time, they began producing pickled herring bits and anchovies on Klädesholmen. Knowledge of seasoning was acquired by buying recipes from wholesale companies. The influences for seasoning can be traced back to Norway, which was somewhat of a pioneer in this area at the time.
During the 1930s, the herring canning industry became significant. Around 1950, there were 25 canning factories and about 150 professional fishermen on Klädesholmen.
An essential factor in Klädesholmen’s canning industry being able to survive and develop was the construction of a bridge connecting the island to Tjörn in 1983. Before that, all communication was by boat.
2000s, a continuously vibrant community
At the beginning of the 2000s, only a few canning factories remained on the island, and four of them decided to merge and form Klädesholmen Seafood AB. Today, the company represents a significant portion of the Swedish canning industry. For example, over half of all matjessill (young herring) comes from here. This means that Klädesholmen, unlike other smaller West Coast communities, is lively and bustling all year round.
Source: Klädesholmens historia 1590-1900 and Wikipedia
