2 1 8 



O. Nordgaard. 



From 1859, there are statistical reports of the Lofot fisheries, 

 including' remarks on the course of the fishery etc. There is prob- 

 ably no instance of a completely unsuccessful fishing season, it has, 

 however, happened that only very little has been caught and the 

 quality has not always been equally good. The exact statistics 

 show that the variations in quantity have been very considerable. 

 As the prosperity of thousands depends upon the fishing, the in- 

 habitants have tried, in the course of the centuries, to discover 

 different signs upon which to build prognostications, and resource 

 was even had to divination. For instance, Axel Hage.mann 1 ) relates 

 that the fishermen, in Saltdalen, made use of the following- device, 

 to be able to foretell the prospects for the Lofot fishing season. 

 On Christmas Eve an outline of the Lofot islands was made on a 

 deep dish, which was then filled with water and put aside to freeze 

 timing' the night. If there were, the next morning', found to be 

 a good number of air-bubbles formed in the dish, it was said that 

 the coming' fishing-season would be a good one. And according 

 to the position of the bubbles, one tried to decide at which places 

 there would be most fish. According to Prof. H. Str0m, 2 ) the 

 fisherfolk in Sondmor adopted a similar method to discover what the 

 cod-fishery, which began directly after Christmas, would be like. 



As time went on, scientists began to concern themselves with 

 problems connected with the fisheries. The wonderful progress 

 made in natural history, which is due to Carl Lixne, was also 

 seen in an increased interest in the study of the natural causes 

 which are the necessary conditions for the carrying on of various 

 industries. Martin Yatil was a Norwegian who had studied under 

 Ltnnes guidance, and he in his turn had a pupil, Jens Rathke, 

 who was sent, in 1801, to Northern Norway on account of the 

 fishing which was being carried on there. Rathke's report of this 

 journey has not been printed, as far as I know, but various extracts 

 from it may be found in a topographical-statistical work by A. 

 Hellaxd on the county (amtl of Tromso. It is G. 0. Sars who, 

 in our country, actually laid the foundation for fishery investig- 

 ations, in the years 1864 — 70, when he made his wellknown in- 

 vestigations in Lofoten. In ls74. he also visited Finmark to examine 

 into certain questions concerning cod fisheries. The Norwegian 

 North Atlantic Expedition 187f> — 78, also had matters of a practical 

 scientific nature with regard to the fisheries on its programme. 

 From this period, there are a series of valuable „reports" written 

 by Sars, in which a great many fishery phenomena are discussed. 



I have previously given an account of the hydrog'raphical 

 investigations which have been made in the Lofottishery district. 3 ) 

 In the years 1900 — 01, Dr. Hjoht, on S/S „Michael Sars" made 

 extensive investigations along the northern coast of Norway. In 

 his preliminary account. Dr. Hjort gives many important results, 

 among which may be mentioned the exceedingly interesting fact 

 that the young' of the cod is found far out in the Norwegian Sea 

 in the summer, while spawning chiefly takes place on the coast 

 banks, and in a less degree in the fiords. Hjort has given a very 

 instructive chart (1. c. p. 43) showing the distribution of the eggs 

 and young of the „skrei" in the summer of 1900 and 1901. From 

 this it would appear that the movement from land is not the same 

 every year. 4 ) 



] i Blandt tapper og bumsend, p. 101. Kristiania, 1889. 



2 ) Sundmoru beskrivelse, I, p. 536. Some, 17f>2. 



3 ) Cf. Nordgaard, Contribution to the Study of Hydrography and Biology 

 on the Coast of Norway, p. 5—7. Bergen, 1899. 



4 ) Hjort, Piskeri og hvalfangst i det nordlige Norge. Bergen, 1902. 



During the last twenty years, when the Lofot-fishery season 

 has not been a good one, the usual explanation for this fact has 

 been offered in the circumstance that the temperature of the water 

 has been too low. In the course of time, however, so many 

 measurements of temperature have been made that it must be pos- 

 sible to form a decided opinion on the actual relation between the 

 quantity of fish and the temperature of the water. I have previ- 

 ously dealt with this subject, and will now repeat that at the depths 

 where fish is generally found the temperature is approximately the 

 same year after year; consequently the thermometer cannot, as a 

 rule, be taken as a guide. Capt. Gade, too, arrived at a similar 

 conclusion, as a result of measurements of temperature made in the 

 Lofoten fishing' waters in the years 1891 — 92. 1 ) On a former 

 occasion, I mentioned, among other things, that the fluctuations in 

 the quantity of fish might possibly be accounted for by the variations 

 in the number of sexually fully developed .,skrei". I must, how- 

 ever, confess that a more careful consideration of the question 

 makes this supposition much less likely. The investigations made 

 by Hjort and Dahl in recent years have made it clear that 

 quantities of cod are found in the summer on the Finmark banks 

 ami in the sea between Norway and Spitzbergen. Of these, the 

 sexually fully-developed individuals in the winter go westwards and 

 southwards to spawn, while the younger ones (loddetorsken) stay 

 near the coast of Finmark. As there is every reason to suppose 

 that, even in the most successful seasons, only a small fraction of 

 the whole number of spawning cod is fished up, it must be con- 

 cluded that quite extraordinary variations in their number would 

 have to occur if there were to be any noticeable effect on the catch. 

 The natural instinct, whether it be intense or slight in degree, which 

 impels to a change of environment, must be taken to be the same 

 year after year for the same species, and finally, the conclusion is 

 reached that the fluctuations in the quantity of fish must depend 

 upon certain conditions in the medium in which they move. The 

 investigations made up to the present appear entirely to confirm 

 the opinion that it is not the differences in temperature and salinity 

 which determine the yield of fish. The properties of Gadus callarias, 

 which determine this in Lofoten, must certainly be taken to be 

 the same, year in and year out; on the other hand, such things 

 as the number of fishermen, of days when it is possible to put out 

 to sea etc. are subject to variation. But I am convinced that 

 such variations alone are not a sufficient explanation of the fluctu- 

 ations in the yield of fish. With respect to the number of fisher- 

 men, this decreases on account of the fall in the yield, while a 

 prospect of better yield increases the number of fishers. There 

 must, therefore, be conditions in the sea itself, which contribute in 

 various degrees to increase, or diminish, the effect of the positively 

 active factors, which, in spite of everything, have exerted so much 

 influence as to prevent the Lofot fishery from having at any time 

 been altogether a failure. By the yield of the Lofot fishery is 

 meant, in the Norwegian fishery statistics, the „skrei" (ocean cod) 

 which is caught from the middle of January to the end of April, 

 during which period an official control is exercised, in the district 

 from Guldviken to Lofotodden. During the decennium 188G — 95, 

 the average yield was 26.53 millions. The maximum was reached 

 in 1895 with 38.6 millions. For the years 1896 — 1902, the average 

 yield was 16 millions, the greatest catch was in 1897 (25.8 millions) 

 and the least in 1900 (8.4 millions). The year 1895 forms the 

 turning point, and it is tolerably natural to set the limit here. If 



J ) Temperaturmaalinger i Lofoten 1891 — 92. Kristiania, 1894. 



