Historic Fishing Village.

Staxigoe derives from Norse, “the inlet of the stack”. The fishing industry was the livelihood of many families living along the Caithness coast. At Staxigoe herring was preserved where fish were packed in barrels of salt then shipped abroad, as well as being the staple diet of many local people.

With up to 50 herring boats anchoring at Staxigoe harbour there was a lot of work for others as well as fishermen, with the women mostly involved in cleaning and packing the herring, and coopers making the barrels.

Today Staxigoe is a small rural village that still has a few local boats fishing mostly for crab and lobster, as well as leisure boats used to fish around the coastline. You can often hear and see seals that live nearby around from the harbour.