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NORWEGIAN LOBSTER-FISHERY AND ITS HISTORY. 239 



Land-owners, from foolish covetonsness, exercised so far as to forbid the 

 poor fishermen from catching lobsters on the outer coast as formerly, for 

 which reason the royal decree also made lobster-fishing entirely free. 

 The decree, however, remained in force, for the special reason that it 

 favored the enrolled sailors, to assist whom was in the interest of the 

 government. 



The dissatisfaction with the existing state of affairs did not grow less 

 in course of time ; but every time that the political situation in 

 Europe favored or did not prevent the lobster-trade, the land-owners 

 endeavored to regain the exclusive right of fishing lobsters near their 

 grounds. In the district of Flrekkefiord, there were thus, in 1790, 

 serious quarrels between the fishermen and the land-owners, who tried 

 to prevent the fishermen from catching lobsters near their grounds, 

 forbidding them to live on their islands, or to set their baskets and 

 gather the lobsters. Mr. Schiouuing, a custom-house officer, January 13, 

 1770, made a proposition to the board of trade, containing more definite 

 regulations concerning the rights of both parties, in order to put an end 

 to the quarrels between the fishermen and the landowners. This propo- 

 sition was sent to the governor, at that time Mr. Teiste, who quietly 

 shelved it. 



The Stavanger merchants, after the year 1730, had bought several 

 lobster-vessels for shipping lobsters to Holland, because they now 

 had a number of privileges with regard to the sale of lobsters. They 

 could not, however, derive from it the profit they desired, as the 

 Dutch sought in every way to hinder the sale of lobsters in Hol- 

 land from Norwegian vessels. Several Stavanger merchants, there- 

 fore, again sold their vessels to the Dutch, and became Dutch com- 

 missioners ; letting the trade, however, go on in their own name, so 

 as to retain for their ships the privilege of first buyers. Complaints 

 were made, and the Norwegian vessels seem somewhat later to have 

 lost this privilege of the first buyer. The last who owned lobster- 

 ships were the firms of Kjellaud & Son and Planz & Sunt, in Sta- 

 vanger, who became commissioners for English lobster-companies, which, 

 in the latter half of the eighteenth century, gradually took possession 

 of the lobster-trade, pushing the Dutch into the background. The priv- 

 ileges granted to Norwegian vessels greatly benefitted the commerce of 

 Norway, which at that time could not compete with the more powerful 

 commercial nations, in whose hands all our import and export trade had 

 hitherto been; but the government, nevertheless, endeavored at times 

 to encourage the export of the productions of the country in Norwegian 

 vessels, and for the prosecution of the lobster-trade several further priv- 

 ileges were granted to Norwegian vessels, without however being of 

 much benefit. Governor Holm therefore said toward the end of the last 

 century, in his " Forsog til Beskrivelse nf Lister og Mandate Amter.p that 

 <'the lobster-fishery would be more profitable to the country if it became 

 more common to carry it on in Norwegian ships instead of letting the 



