THE COD FISHERIES NEAR THE LOFFODEN ISLANDS. fi03 



Those young fish which I had the first time found here in such enor- 

 mous numbers must, therefore, have gone to other places, probably to the 

 great deep. In order not to lose the thread of my investigation, I had 

 therefore again to go after them. As none were to be seen in the sound 

 between the islands, I had to make my observotion farther out at sea, 

 which at this season of the year could not be done every day. The 

 stormy weather which set in at the beginning of the month (February) 

 and which continued for a number of days, seemed to place an insur- 

 mountable obstacle in my way. All I could do was to wait patiently 

 until the weather got fine again. 



On the first tolerably calm day I went out, fully supplied with fishing- 

 lines and fresh herring for bait. But I soon found that fishing here was 

 not so easy as nearer the coast. The strong current, which, in conse- 

 quence of the long-continued stormy weather was coming in from the 

 great deep, made it impossible for me to keep the lines steadilj^ near the 

 bottom. Every time my boat was raised by a wave the lines were like- 

 wise raised a considerable distance from the bottom, and every time the 

 boat sank lower the lines got entangled among the algse, and when the 

 boat rose again the hooks and bait were torn off. 



After several futile attempts, during which I had lost quite a number of 

 hooks, I abandoned my purpose, and returned to my usual fishing-sta- 

 tion near the Skarvbjergj but not a single fish did I catch here, nor 

 could I discover any among the algae, which, formerly had been their 

 favorite place of sojourn, and where I had often observed hundreds of 

 them. 



The same was the case in some other i)laces which I visited in the 

 course of the day. The young codfish seemed to have disappeared en- 

 tirely. It was evident that the only place where there would be some 

 hope of finding them would be those very places outside of the islands, 

 and covered with algae, where I had been so unsuccessful. But 1 was 

 convinced that, in order to succeed, I must change my method of fishing, 

 and use implements more suited to the circumstances. I had, in the 

 course of my investigations, so often to make similar changes, that I had 

 become accustomed to them. I had begun to take the newly-hatched 

 young fish from the surface of the water with a porcelain saucer j then 

 I had used a small purse-net made of fine gauze ; then a small hook tied 

 to a thin thread ; then a large purse-net ; and finally a regular fishing- 

 line. I now determined to use a stationary line, which I could set in a 

 convenient place in the evening and haul it in in the morning, believing 

 that I would save much time which I had formerly lost in catching 

 young fish. I had such a line prepared and furnished with about 100 

 of the smallest hooks I could find. 



As soon as I could procure enough fresh herring for bait, I set my line 

 at a depth of 20 to 30 fathoms in one of the sandy bottoms, bounded on 

 both sides by dense groves of algae. The following day the weather was 

 not very favorable, but for hauling in a line you need not be so particu- 



