Stockfish is unsalted fish dried naturally by sun and wind on wooden racks called hjell, or in special drying houses. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage life of several years. The method is also cheap, the work can be done by the fisherman, and the resulting product is easily transported to its market.

Cod is the most common fish used in stockfish production, while other white meat fish, such as pollock, haddock, ling and cusk is used to a lesser degree.

Stockfish is naturally dried outside during February - April. The biggest consumers of stockfish is found in the Italian market and the south of France (Nice, Menton).