Fish flake

Spelling variations for fish flake in Newfoundland include flek, fleyke, fleake, flaik and fleack.

The top level of the store was of an open structure with areas that could be sectioned off to contain neat stacks of dried fish.

The hand flake was built and utilized only when the amount of fish caught during a season called for it; as such these were considered temporary structures.

Hand flakes were built low to the ground at about waist height with the surface area about the width of a person's reach stretched in various lengths.

These were conveniently located next to or in close proximity to the main flake for quick storage of the fish whenever the weather was inclement.

These structures took on a very distinct appearance within a fishing village, so much so that in his book Voyage to Newfoundland and the Southern Coast of Labrador, Edward Chappell (1818, pp.

Prior to the widespread use of freezer technology, the Newfoundland fishery was dependent on salt as a preservative and curing agent.

This process was necessitated because it was unfeasible for vessels to take their catch back to Europe on every trip to the fishing grounds on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.