Combination. 



247 



In the inner part of the Hals Fiord, he fished, on an average, 

 3 liters pr. hour with a little shrimp trawl, but at the other pla- 

 ces mentioned. P. borealis only occurred singly. 1 ) The author men- 

 tioned is not sure that it would pay to carry on this kind of fish- 

 ing, even in the Bals Fiord, under present conditions. The day 

 will, however, doubtless come when it will be found profitable to 

 do so. also in the northern districts where this species is found. 



< 'aneer pagurus, Lin. 

 The species is of no importance in the economy of the northern 

 districts, as it occurs very sparsely. Concerning its distribution, it 

 should be noticed that M. Sars'-) mentions having found it at 

 Lofoten. Spabre Schneideb has informed me that it dues not go 

 so far north as Tromso. Schneider has also told me that the 

 common crab. Carcinus maenas, has its northern limit at Dyro and 

 the outer coast of Senjen. For the present. Lofoten ought, there- 

 fore, to be considered to be the northern limit for C. pagurus. 



Homarus gammarus, Lin. 



M. Saks says (1. c. p. 124) that lobster is only rarely found 

 in Lofoten ami the Folden Fiord (6772 u N.). 



Later on. it was proved that lobster is found in the Tys Fiord. 

 In 1896 ..Nordlands fiskeriforening", on the suggestion of inspector 



Dahl, decided to use a sum of money on trial fishery. About one 

 hundred lobsters, large ami of a good flavour, were caught, but no 

 actual lobster fishery has resulted from this trial. It would indeed 

 be quite unique, if an animal should be found in such large quan- 

 tities near the boundary limits for its distribution as to make it 

 possible to carry on a profitable catch. 



It i<. of course, a necessary condition that, to be of anj 

 economical importance, a marine animal must occur in comparatively 

 large numbers within a limited area. Buccinum undatum, for 

 instance, would no doubt be excellent bait, but as it does not occur 

 so close together as Pecten islaiidimts or Cyprina islandica it is of 

 little practical importance. 



A form, which has recently been taken into use. is Nyctiphanes 

 norvegica, M. Sabs. At one place in the Trondhjem Fiord (near 

 Yerdalsoren) a large number of this Schizopod is washed ashore, 

 and in recent years they have been salted and used, with excellent 

 results, as bait for haddock (Gadas ceglefinus).*) < >n our northern 

 coasts, Boreophausia inermis occurs in large numbers, and it is 

 probable that also this form, as well as Nyctiphanes. may be used 

 as bait for haddock. 



b. The ..Skrei" Fishery in Lofoten. 



The Lofoten fishery is very old. In the latter half of the 

 9th century Tobolv Ivveluclvsox lived at Sandnes in Alsteno, 

 and it is said of him. in Egil's historical tales, that he had sent 

 men out fishing „skrei" at Vaagan (Lofoten) and some were also 

 gone to fish herrings. 3 ) In the same tale too, it is related that 

 Tobolv sent his trusty man Torgils gjallaxde to England with 

 a vessel laden with dried ..skrei", furs, etc. And wheat, honey, 

 wine and clothes made up the return cargo from England. There 

 are many historical references, in the following centuries, to the 

 fisheries in Lofoten, but I will only here refer to some of them. 



The tackle used in the old times took the form of hand-lines, 

 about A. D. 1600 longlines came into use. and about the year 

 1700 nets appeared upon the scene. At the present day all three 

 are used. 



For several centuries the „skrei" was exclusively prepared as 

 „dried fish", the head was cut oft' and entrails taken out and then 

 the fish was hung up to dry. Towards the end of the 16th cen- 

 tury some trials were made to prepare „klip" fish (tor-fisk = 

 dried fish = stockfish [commercial], klipfisk = salted, dried cod). 



In a description of Lofoten in 1591, 4 ) we read that the fish 

 was first salted and then dried on the rocks so that it became 

 „as hard as a piece of wood". In the same account, it is also 

 mentioned that in the summer when the fish were dried and the 

 oil was pressed out of their livers, traders came to Lofoten to 



') Cf. H. Kh;r. (iin forekomsten af dybvandsraeker ved Trorase. Norsk 

 Fiskeritidende, 1903, p. 624. 



-) KriBtiania Vid. Selsk. Forh. 1858, p. 123. 



3 ) Cf. Egils saga Skallagrimsonar. Reykjavik, 1892, p. 39. 

 „Han havdi pa menu i sh'eidfiski i Vdgum, enn suma i sildfiski." 



4 ) Beskrivel.se over Lofoten o. s. v. Ilet kgl. norske Vid. Selsk. Skr. i 

 det 19de aarh., B. 1. p. 473. 



barter barley, rye, salt, iron, clothes, linen etc. in exchange for 

 the fish and cod liver oil. The primitive preparation of the latter 

 consisted in the collecting of the liver in large cisterns, which were 

 exposed to the direct heat of the sun. the oil was thus melted out 

 and drawn off little by little. About the middle of the 17th cen- 

 tury, cod-roe began to be considered as an article of commerce. 



Preben von Ahnen, the last of the feudal lords of Nordland, 

 made strenuous efforts to effect the sale of cod-roe, and in 1658 

 he obtained a license from Fredrik 111 to trade in this article.-) 



About the year 1600, Pedes Clauss0n Funs relates that it 

 was forbidden, under severe penalty, to throw single cod heads into 

 the sea, for fear that fish should eat them to their harm. If one, 

 at that time, wished to be quit the heads of cod one had to string 

 them together and sink them. However, the same writer mention-, 

 some heads were di'ied to be used as fodder. Now-a-days, the 

 heads and back' bones, which are removed when cod is prepared 

 as „klip"fish, are made into guano in factories erected for the 

 purpose. So that not only the flesh of the cod. but also its head, 

 backbone, liver and roe are now made use of. The sperm bags 

 are also sometimes used as fodder, but the rest of the entrails are 

 still thrown into the sea. 



The honour of founding the present cod-liver oil industry 

 belongs to a Norwegian pharmaceutical chemist. Peter Mollek. he 

 having started the first factory for the preparation of medicinal 

 cod liver oil in 1853. 



His son, Dr. F. P. M0ller studied the subject also, and he 

 has, in a comprehensive work, 3 ! explained the scientific basis of the 

 method adopted by his father. 



') Cf. NORDGAABD, Kt nyt agn fur livsen. Norsk Fiskeritidende. 1903, p. 618. 

 2 i Cf. ii. Xn oi.aissen, Fra Nordlands fortid. Kristiania, 1889. p. 80. 

 : 'i Cod-Liver nil and Chemistry, London, 1895. 



