BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. '2G7 



iiij;- the shores of the North Sea mid carryiug ou sea fisheries. This dil- 

 i'ereiice is caused by the uature of the bottom of the sea oft' the coast of 

 Norway. From the Skager Rack to the Pohir Sea the bottom in im- 

 mediate proximity to the coast sinks to a considerable depth, only a few * 

 of the numerous fiords having a depth of less than 100 fathoms. The 

 North Sea proper, on the other hand, and the sea surrounding the 

 British Isles, has a depth of more than 100 fathoms in only a few places, 

 but is full of flat banks, approaching the surface of the sea within 10 fath- 

 oms or less. Tliis explains the wealth of the North Sea in flat-fish and 

 the great importance of the English trawl-net fisheries in the Ni rth 

 Sea. The case is very different in Norway. Here the deep bottom of 

 the sea has very few flat-fish, or at least trawl-nets cannot be employed 

 on account of the great depth. Plaice, halibut, and even haddock are 

 therefore not caught very frequently, and their place is taken by the 

 fish inhabiting the open ocean, such as the cod, herring, and mackerel, 

 which approach the coasts at certain seasons of the year for the purpose 

 of spawning. 



The main places of sojourn of all these fish are far out in the open sea, 

 or farther north in the Polar Sea, that is, in regions which so far have 

 been almost entirely inaccessible. Thus the enormous shoals of fish 

 which at regular seasons approach the coasts of Norway appear to the 

 Norwegians more than to other nations as the gift of providence, which 

 man may accept, but which he can in no wise either increase or decrease. 

 In fact, the history of the Norwegian fisheries and the statistics of the 

 last twenty years show that the fluctuations in the yield have noth- 

 ing whatever to do with excessive fishing or other hurtful measures 

 taken by the fishermen, as is to some extent the case on the British 

 coasts, but that they must be explained from entirely different (and so 

 far unknown) causes, to be found in the nature of these northern seas. 



As regards the kinds and yields of the sea fisheries, the entire coast 

 of Norway may be divided into four districts : The first is the coast of 

 the Skager Rack from the boundary of Sweden to Cape Liudesnaes. 

 It produces about 3^ per cent of the entire yield of the fisheries. The 

 second district is that of the North Sea from Cape Lind^snaes to Cape 

 Stat, yielding about 9 per cent. The most important fisheries of this 

 district are the spring-herring, lobster, and salmon fisheries. The tliird 

 district is the Norwegian North Sea coast from Cape Stat as far as the 

 island of Soroe, in Finmark. Here the most productive of all the Nor- 

 wegian fisheries are carried on (about 71 per cent). This is the region 

 of the fat-herring, great-herring, and cod fisheries. The fourth district 

 embraces the coast of the Polar Sea, from the island of Sortie, yieldiag 

 about 17 per cent. The principal fish caught in this district is the 

 spring cod. The above will show that it is not the North Sea proper, 

 but the open ocean, which is the main source of the Norwegian wealth 

 offish. 



