AN ACCOUNT OF THE FISHERIES OF NORWAY IN 1»^77. 717 



rays ine too strong, or when exposed for too long a time, rinally, after 

 weeks of work, of watching, and of patience the cod is dried and 

 becomes "dried fish" (klipfisch). Generally two pounds of dressed fisli 

 are necessary to make one ponnd of IdlpJiHch. Thin fish also lose more 

 than fat. The Idlpfinch obtained weighs on an average from l^j^ pounds 

 to2i. 



h. Rundjisch or stocljish {monie en baton). — This is generally prepared 

 by fishermen on their own account ; speculators, however, are beginning 

 to take an increasing interest in it. This preparation is scarcely made 

 except in the Loffbden Islands and in Fin mark. The fish not salable 

 for Jdijyjisch are usually employed for this purpose. The preparation of 

 each species depends very much on the price at foreign places, or rather 

 at Bergen, of which the fishermen are regularly informed. 



As soon as the head and entrails are removed, the cod are tied to- 

 gether by the tail, two by two, and placed thus a-horseback, so to say, 

 or on a bar resting at each end on supports. The work is then done, 

 for the wind and sun attend to the rest. 



The fishermen go away leaving the fisheries and their establishments, 

 after having generally engaged a man, at a cost of 60 cents a crew per 

 day, to watch the fish and to replace upon the dryers those knocked 

 off by the wind or by birds of prey. The fish is thus left to itself until 

 the 12th of June, before which no one can take away his rundfisch. It 

 is very rarely that the owners of the fish have to complain, and police 

 ordinances have assisted in increasing the security. It is rare, too, in 

 the Loffoden Islands that the fish spoils, because generally in the spring 

 north winds and dry weather prevail there. In Finmark, on the con- 

 trary, it happens frequently that the weather is moist, and the article is 

 rarely so good as that coming from the Loffoden Islands. The rundfisch 

 is generally reckoned as weighing about 720 grams (IJ pounds). 



G: llorve saJee, or salt cod (Laberdan). — This article, so much used for- 

 merly, has now nearly disappeared before the manufacture of Idipfiscli. 

 It is still prepared in Finmark by the Russians during the very hot 

 weather, when the other methods of preparation are inapplicable. The 

 cod is given to them in exchange for other objects of consumption, prin- 

 cipally flour. 



5. Preparation of the oil. 



Formerly the extraction of the oil was performed by the fishermen 

 themselves, and only after the fishing was ended, but now the liver itself 

 constitutes an article of merchandise, being sold by the fishermen to 

 dealers who have the oil extracted. 



As the cod is cleaned the liver is placed in water-tight casks, where 

 it passes several months, until it can be boiled. Before proceeding 

 with the boiling, all the oil is drawn off that will come easily, and 

 this, under the name of pale oil {huilepdle), is used principally in med- 

 icine. The oil procured while the livers are fresh is naturally the purest 

 and best (huile medicinale naturelle). 



