AN ACCOUNT OF THE FISHERIES IN NORWAY IN 1877. 727 



Tbo fishermeu arc classified according to the apparatus they eicploy. 

 They live and work under very different conditions. 



As to net-fishing, the boat, with all its equipment, belongs gen- 

 erally to a crew composed of four or five men. The boats rarely carry 

 hired fishermen ; when they do, however, these receive as their share 

 half of the fish caught, or rather they get half their pay in catch and 

 half in wages, the latter amounting to G or 7 francs a week. It is the 

 same when a city merchant fits out a vessel, except that the compensa- 

 tion of the commander is higher. In every case the fishermen have 

 with them a dormitory-boat, where as many of the crew as the boat 

 can contain are assembled, not to separate during the continuance of 

 the work. On board of this dormitory-boat are kept their provisions, 

 beds, and changes of clothing. 



In general, every man performs in turn the cooking for all the rest. 

 Fifty years ago the fishermen had no dormitory-boats, but had to seek 

 shelter anywhere in the neighborhood of the fisheries. Few found shel- 

 ter, and the greater part, chilled to the bone, took refuge in boats turned 

 over for the purpose, or passed the night exposed to the rain and tem- 

 pests on some desert rock. Those considered themselves favored who 

 could sleep under a roof, erect, supported one against the shoulders of 

 the other. At present, even when all this hardship is considerably 

 lightened, the lot of the fishermen is very little to be envied. What- 

 ever the weather, it is necessary morning and evening to go to sea and 

 cast or draw in the nets that the current has often carried away, or 

 which have been disturbed and carried to the bottom by the inter- 

 ference of other fishermen. It is not rare for fishermen to return empty- 

 handed after a profitless work and after having lost all their imple- 

 ments. If, on the contrary, the herring-fishery is successful and the nets 

 are full, the fishermen must return by the aid of the oar to the nearest 

 port where the collecting-boats are anchored, make their discount, and 

 return to the dormitory-boat. It is necessary in the evening to set the 

 nets again ; then the fisherman has finished his fatiguing day of work, 

 to continue day after day so long as the fishing lasts, and as soon as 

 the weather permits him to go to sea. The herring caught are, as we 

 have said, delivered to the collecting-boats, which transport them to the 

 salters, but sometimes the fishermen themselves transport them thither. 

 During this transfer, especially if it lasts long, the herring, being heaped 

 up, is in danger of becoming spoiled, but the principal causes of loss 

 occur in the manipulation at the salting-establishments. 



As soon as the herring arrive at the salting-establishment, they are 

 given to the dressers and salters. These in the cities are generally 

 women ; in the salting-establishments by the shore fisheries, they are 

 more frequently girls who come from the neighboring country, and 

 often, further, to participate in the general activity. They are usually 

 arranged in threes, two to clean the fish and one to salt. The cleaning 

 consists in burying a pointed knife in the throat of the fish, which allows 



