Stykkisholmur, Iceland: on a remote island in the Gulf of Breidafjordur on the west coast of Iceland, a thousand-year-old harvest takes place – eiderdown hunting which is difficult to understand, is used to make some of the best blankets and blankets in the world.
Handphicked down sells for thousands of euros per kilo, serving those who are looking for exclusive products.
Every summer, nearly 400 Iceland farmers combed a hollow surface on the rock, on the sand or on high grass to dig some gray feathers from this pole duck.
From May and so on, Eider comes to nesting in a rarely populated sea landscape on most Iceland beaches where there is seaweed to feed the duck.
Erla Fridriksdottir, owner and company manager King Eider at Stykkisholmur, harvesting eiderdown on the island of Bjarneyjar, Bay Breidafjordur, Iceland “When there is an egg, we just took part of the bottom.
And when Eider has left the nest, we took everything,” Erla Fridriksdottir, head King Eider, one of the country’s main exporters, told AFP.
Eider, sea duck from the sea subarctic, leaving a trail behind consisting of natural treasure: one of the warm natural fibers on the planet, both light and very isolated.
Females, with dark brown feathers with black lines – similar to Mallard but a little bigger – release down from her breasts and coat the nest with it to isolate it during incubation.
About 60 nests are needed to produce one kilo down – the need for blankets between 600 and 1,600 grams, depending on the selected quality.
Worldwide, Eiderdown’s annual harvest is no more than four tons, three quarters comes from Iceland, so far the largest producer in the world, in front of Canada and other countries bordering the North Pole.
There are five Iceland companies that export eiderdown, according to the Eider Farming Association, but around 15 companies are completely involved in several capacities in its production.
On Bjareyjar Island, the tradition of nest search left has been reduced for generations.
Local practices are said to have begun in Iceland as Viking from Norway settled on the island at the end of the 9th century.
Since 1847, Eider has been fully protected in Iceland, such as hunting and picking up the eggs forbidden.
But it still faces the danger, because predators like seagulls, crows, eagles, feathers and foxes eat sea ducks or their eggs.
“We feel that the duck likes to have their nests close to us, where we live,” Jon Fridriksson, Brother Erla, told AFP, added that it could be a strategy to keep the predator in the bay.
After being harvested, go down dry in the open air so that it doesn’t prints.
Then the Fridriksdottir employee started the first stage sterilizing and cleaning the large oven at a temperature of 120 degrees Celsius for eight hours.
“When it comes down here, most will be full of grass, eggshells and all kinds of things from the ocean …
and we put it in the oven to kill any organism and it (high temperature) also makes teen robins,” Pall Jonsson, Who is responsible for the engine at the workshop in the nearest city of Stykkisholmur, told AFP.
In the second step, the engine rotates removing other impurities from the bottom by pressing it against a thin wire net.
As the last touch, expert hands – which no technology can be replaced for this process so far – do other thorough cleaning.
Even for the most experienced, it takes four to five hours to clean one kilo by hand.
Finally, the feathers down washed with water and disinfected, again by hand, before giving up and dries.
While the world is well-known, Eiddown’s production is a decline in the total bucket of world production, an estimated 175,000 tons per year, according to the bottom bureau and international fur.
According to Icelandic law, eiderdown must pass strict quality control before sale, ensuring cleanliness, smell, color and consistency.
“You must be able to take a 40-50 gram package between two fingers and if it remains intact and does not fall, then down good quality,” Asgeir Jonsson, one of the inspectors, explained.
Apart from the rare, Eiderdown production – from the manual collection to hard cleaning – help explain high prices.
Simple blankets containing 800 grams of feathers sell for around 640,000 Iceland Chronur (4,350 euros, $ 5,116).
Customers “often nature lovers and people who care about the environment,” said Fridriksdottir.
“This is the only one who is harvested, the other often becomes a by-product of the food industry” adding fridriksdottir, which is mostly small businesses sent to Germany and Japan.