256 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



1,000,000, and increased constantly, till in 1865 they very nearly readied 

 2,000,000, viz, 1,056,270. 



The complaints regarding the protective law have now ceased, since 

 the government has in several districts limited it by royal decrees, and 

 in many places the people are rather inclined to extend the season of 

 protection than to limit it as, in the district of Stavanger, where 

 two years ago public opinion was in favor of prohibiting all fishing 

 during autumn and winter, as it was thought that thereby the spring 

 and summer fisheries would become all the more productive. As a 

 general rule, no lobsters are exported from there in autumn and winter, 

 except when some new English companies want to get into the lobster- 

 trade and therefore buy the lobsters at a higher price than is usually 

 paid, so as to ruin their rivals. Then all the lobsters that can be got 

 are generally bought during autumn, as was the case in 1845 and 1816, 

 and to some extent in 1861 and 1865. During the last-mentioned year, 

 such a large quantity of lobsters was caught on account of the unusually 

 calm weather, that the Englishman who had urged the fishermen to 

 fish could not take more than one-third of all that had been caught, 

 and the rest died, without being of use to any one. One reason why the 

 fishermen wish to see this autumn fishing forbidden by law is that even 

 if they were unanimous as to its injurious character, all of them would, 

 though unwillingly, take their part in it, if a small number of fishermen 

 moved by covetousness were to catch lobsters, and if there should be a 

 chance of selling them at that season, because they suppose that those 

 lobsters which they would otherwise get in spring would now be caught 

 by others in autumn, which would injure their trade very much. 



As the privileges which at different times had been granted to the 

 lobster-shippers were not the same in every place, because the ports 

 for shipping lobsters were established as necessity arose, and on that 

 occasion got certain privileges, these must naturally differ a great deal 

 according to the views prevalent at the time when the ports were 

 established. Such regulations regarding the ports of Espevaer, Salt- 

 hellern, and Eognesuud from the year 1708, have already been com- 

 municated, and similar ones have existed in other ports. These regula- 

 tions were certainly modified a great deal in course of time ; but the 

 Danish-Norwegian government inclined to keep privileges that had 

 once been granted unchanged as far as was possible, and these privi- 

 leges could consequently not become uniform till our days. In order to 

 do this, the department of finance and customs issued a circular, dated 

 December 11, 1865, to the following effect: 



"As the privileges which have been granted by decrees published 

 from time to time to the lobster-trade in different places of the kingdom 

 partly differ somewhat as to their character without there being suffi- 

 cient reason therefor, and are partly scattered in a manner which makes 

 supervision difficult, the department has thought proper to make the 

 following general regulations regarding the privileges that shall be in 



