si'iLBEK, wlio HvihI at Tjøtta, wrote about the coninion misery, 

 and he too was a irreat sutt'erer daring the bad years. One spring-, 

 there was an intlow of herrings to some outlying places, and Oivind 

 rowed thither to buy some. Snokke furtiier writes that „the tii-st 

 winter (970—1)71) that Haakon Jaki, ruled in Norway, herrings came 

 aromid the whole country." We see, that, at this time too, bad 

 years and intlow of herrings wei-e coincident, and 1 am, moreover, 

 inclined to conclude that, as there was such hunger and want at. 

 Helgeland, the cod fishery had not been successful. Snorre indeed 

 says that there was a want of fish. We know that, about a hun- 

 dred years previously, the Lofot fishery had been so good that a 

 man at Helgeland had been able to export stock fish to England. 



Right back in the olden days, there are sources of information 

 which hint at considerable variations in the yield of the Tjofot 

 fishery. And at the present day, we have certain pi'oofs tliat rather 

 great fluctuations do indeed occur. 



To confirm which, I will, finally, give a few features of the 

 history of the Lofot fishery in the 19th century. At the commen- 

 cement of the century in question, there were many bad years for 

 the farmer, 1812 being one of the worst. From an account written 

 at the time 'I, it will be seen that the Lofot fishery had so fallen 

 off that it was feai-ed tiiat it would altogether fail, and the reason 

 for this was not sought in natural circumstances, but in the 

 increasing use of nets during the fishing season. 



About ten years latei-, there appears to be an improvement 

 in the fishery. The clergyman in Saltdalen, S. C. Sommerfeldt-) 

 writes that, in the year 1823, there was a particularly good Lofot 

 fishing season, and the yield was calculated to be 15,923000 fish, 

 di\1ded among 2788 boats. For the succeeding years the following 

 figures are given by Jens Kraft') for Lofoten and Vesteraalen. 



1825 

 1826 

 1827 



of boats. Nr. of fisli 



2589 — 11509180. 



2790 — 1282l7(iO. 



2916 — 15864620. 



1828') — 2734 — 13919380. 

 1829 — 3027 — 14076200. 



These ligures, according to A. M. Sch\veigaard=) are too low, 

 as the fishers were supposed to have given too low numbers, on 

 account of tithes to be paid. As, however, the yield from Vester- 

 aalen') is also included in these figures, the yield for Lofoten alone 

 can hai'dly be said to be more than 15 millions. 



From 1859, there are complete reports of the Lofot yield. 



A graphic illustration of the millions caught from 1859—1903 

 gives a particularly irregular picture, suggesting a panorama of 

 Jotunheim, with a Galdhopig for the maximum year. 



It is evident that the catch of a single year may, to some 

 extent, be aftected by more or less accidental factors, whose influ- 

 ence must be supposed to be disregarded when an average for a 

 period of years is to be given, e. g. a decennium. 



The result would then be: — 



18.4 million fish 



24.5 — 



85 



1861 

 1876 

 1886— 95 

 1896 — 1903 



26 



15.4 



These figures are supposed to be comparable. 



It is interesting to note that during the years 1861—74, there 

 was a big-herring period in Nordland. At the same time, the avei-- 

 age water-level is mentioned as being higher than normal, and the 

 yield of cod must be reckoned as not very good. The next period 

 shows an improvement in the \ield, and the best seasons are 

 reached in the years 1886 — 95. This agrees beautifully with a low 

 average water-level in Nordland in the years 1891—94, and a 

 downfall less than usual in the same decennium. On the contrary, 

 as already mentioned, the Lofot fishery has of late years not been 

 very good, while there has been a surplus downfall. 



c. Some Remarks on the Cod-fishery in Finmark. 



The catch of spawning cod ( skrei i in Finmark is not very 

 unportaut, at any rate at the present time. Spawning takes place, 

 however, every yeai- and Brevik and Hasvik in Sørøen are import- 

 ant stations during the Minterfishery in Finmark. A. F. Bremer-*) 

 mentions that, about 183f>, there was a very good catch of „skrei" 

 in the fiords of West Finmark, in pai'ticular in the Alten Fiord. 

 But in 1838 a change occurred, and from that year the fishery in 

 the fiords was poor, and the i-eason Bremer thought, was that the 

 considerable inflow of Ommaiot?trcphe)< todariis (akker) and herrings 

 began just that year. Bremer, and others, also mention that from 

 1830—40 the ,,loddefishery" ^) was very poor. It is mentioned as 



') E. A. Colban, ForsOs til en Beskrivelse over LofotPns og Vesteraalens 

 Fogderi (1814). Det Kgl. nor.ske Vid. Selsk. Skrifter i 19de Aarh., Bd. 2, Trond- 

 hjem, 1824—27. 



2) Physisk-okonomisk Beskrivelse over Saltdalen, p. I.'i9. Det Kgl. norske 

 Vid. Selsk. Skr. 19 Aarh. Bd. 2, Trondbjem 1824—27. 



*) Beskrivelse over Kongeriget Norge, 6 Del, p. 373, Kristiania, 1835. 



'') En gammel Finmarkings Betragtninger o. a. v. Hammerfest, 1881. 



') By this expression is meant the cod fishery which is carried on at the 

 time when Mallofns villosus, MCll. (lodde) spawns. 



a general rule that the winter cod fishery in Finmark is always 

 better in those years when the „lodde" (capelan) occurs only in 

 small numbers. The spring cod-fishery, which depends upon the 

 capelans being followed on its spawning travels by young individuals 

 of Gadus caUarias, is very much more important than the winter 

 fishery (skrei-fishery), therefore the absence of capelan is a serious 

 matter for the Finmark fishers economically speaking. It would 

 therefore be of great economical importance to get a thorough 

 knowledge of the capelan's life. In one of his latest works, Prof. 

 Collett*) has collected what is up to the present known about 

 this fish. I beg to refer to this account, from which it will be 

 seen that „during the inflow, the capelan often travels in compact 

 shoals in the surface layers". Sometimes, spawning occurs at a 

 depth of a few meters, but generally deeper down (70—90 m.i. 



') Lofoten alone. 



2) Norges Statistik, p. 96. Kristiania, 1840. 



*) According to Sommerfeldt (1. c. p. 139), the yield from Vesteraalen in 

 1823 was 581700 fish. 



*) Meddelelser om Norges Fiske i Aarene 1884 — 1901, II. Kristiania Vid. 

 Selsk. Forh. f. 1903, nr. 9, p. 147—163. 



