NORWEGIAN LOBSTEE-FISHERY AND ITS HISTORY. 237 



governor, their complaints were laid before the viceroy, Mr. Weber, who 

 had the matter examined by competent men, and thereupon sent a me- 

 morial to the king, in which he says, among other things: "The bless- 

 ings which tbe sea bestows will become useless, if the owner of the 

 ground has the power to take and keep everything pertaining to the 

 fisheries; fish are not in one place, but change from one to the other; 

 and the fishermen, who alone understand the fisheries and earn their 

 living thereby, must go after the fish. It is a general custom of the 

 country, and also in accordance with the law, that every one takes the 

 fish which the sea yields wherever he finds them, with the exception of 

 the salmon, which always goes to certain places that pay a special tax, 

 and where, therefore, none but the owner is allowed to fish. The law, 

 book 5, chapter 11, article 11, says that no one must hinder another per- 

 son in the fisheries he possesses from olden times, and article 2 of the same 

 chapter, on which the judge has based his argument, says: 'Every man 

 shall enjoy the water and the fisheries near his grounds which he has 

 possessed from olden times, unless he has been deprived of these privi- 

 leges by law ;' and book 3, chapter 13, article 1, says : 'A nobleman and 

 landed proprietor is, more than any stranger, privileged to use all the 

 advantages of his property.' Fierce law-suits would follow, if the owner 

 of such islands could forbid the fishermen to catch lobsters, as the bless- 

 ing of the sea would then remain useless, and the little that was de- 

 rived from it would not be properly treated, since the fishermen alone 

 have the greatest experience in this matter," &c. He therefore pro- 

 poses to the king to revoke the judgment given by Judge Leth, and 

 allow all and every one to fish lobsters. The result of this memorial was 

 a royal decree, dated April 23, 1728, to the effect that lobster-fishing 

 should be free to all. 



After this decree had made the lobster-fisheries free, the export of 

 lobsters, concerning whose decrease complaints had been made to the 

 viceroy, rose again, so that in 1733 twenty-three large cargoes, contain- 

 ing 160,000 lobsters, went to Holland, and the rest to England in thirty- 

 two small English and nine Norwegian vessels. The Stavauger fish- 

 ermen had recently got six to eight lobster-vessels, after the question 

 whether the advantages of the lobster-trade might not just as well be 

 enjoyed by the king's own subjects as by the Dutch had been settled, 

 and certain privileges had been granted to the home traders, decreeing 

 " that in order not to let foreigners reap the chief profit, a Norwegian 

 ship should be admitted into every port before anything should be sold to 

 foreigners." English vessels likewise began from this time to visit the 

 coasts of Norway in greater numbers ; many of these had formerly taken 

 their cargoes near Heligoland, and had left that region because the 

 fisheries had decreased there. Several ports of export and custom- 

 houses were established on account of the increased fisheries ; six ports 

 being alone established in the Stavauger districts. On account of the 

 greater demand for lobsters, the fisheries were carried on to a great 



