AN ACCOUNT OF THE FISHERIES IN NORWAY IN 1877. 737 



K.— VALUE OF THE PRINCIPAL PKODUCTS OF TEE NOR- 

 WAY FISHERIES. 



1. Value at places of export. 



187G. 



19,683,700 kilos. f43,394,685 pounds) dried fish, at $9 per 100 

 kilos.* ^ $ 1, 77 1, 533 



33,038,050 kilos. (72,835,685 pounds) Uipjisch, at $11 per 100 



kilos 3, 634, 200 



91,428 barrels salted cod. at $5.80 per barrel 530, 282 



12,176 barrels large herring "j i. ^.r? pa 



23,607 barrels spring herring } barrer'" ! ^' ^^^' ^^^ 



861,325 barrels summer herring, brisling, &c. ) 



to which a lead of six to nine pounds is attached as a sinker. This line ends in a 

 tinned or galvanized-irou chain, of about three fathoms in length, so that it cannot be 

 injured by the familiar habit of the tish, hereafter to be described. 



The hooks are made of strong iron or steel, nearly four-tenths of an inch in diameter. 

 As soon as the boats reach the bank, they are brought to anchor, and the cord let 

 down ; before this, however, a perforated bos, filled with rancid or putrid seal 

 blubber, is fastened about two fathoms above the hook. This substance escapes through 

 the holes of the box, and is carried along by the water, thus attracting the fish to the 

 hook, which is also baited with seal blubber. 



The fisherman holds the line in the hand, as in cod-fishing, and as soon as it is ob- 

 served that the animal has taken the hook, by a sudden jerk this is forced into the 

 mouth. As soon as captured, the shark rolls himself round and round in the chain, 

 which is not injured by the rough, file-like skin, as would be the case with a line. 

 The animal is then hauled up, sometimes by the use of a windlass. As soon as it 

 appears above the surface, it is killed and held fast until the belly is opened, and 

 the liver removed. The swimming bladder is then filled with air by means of a pipe, 

 so that the carcass will not sink. It is then fastened to the stern of the vessel. Some- 

 times other sharks follow the carcass of the dead one, and are occasionally caught by 

 means of gaffs. 



When the boats leave the banks, a buoy is generally fastened to each carcass, so 

 that it may remain at the surface without sinking. Otherwise it would be eaten by 

 its fellows, who would neglect the baited hooks. 



The yield of this fishery is not only dependent uijon the wind and weather, which 

 are so inconstant in the Arctic seas, but also upon the variation in the size of the 

 fish and their abundance. Some of the fish furnish a liver weighing only 25 to 30 

 pounds, while from others livers of 220 to 450 pounds are obtained. 



Of late years the carcasses of these sharks have been brought ashore, for the pur- 

 pose of being manufactured into manure or guano ; especially when they are taken 

 inshore near the land, as is the case sometimes in the winter on the coast of Finmark, 

 where they are sometimes taken with trawl lines. These trawls usually carry thirty 

 hooks, six or seven fathoms apart, and are kept immediately above the bottom by 

 means of glass floats. 



The annual yield from this fishery amounts to eight to ten thousand barrels of livers, 

 worth one hundred and fifty thousand gulden. 



The oil of this animal, obtained by steam heating, is extremely fine, and is used for 

 purposes of illumination. The undissolved portions of the liver are then boiled, and 

 fnmisli the brown tanner's oil. — Translator. 



* The equivalent of the kilo, (kilogram) is 2.2046 pounds. The values originally given 

 in francs have been reduced to dollars of five francs each. — Translator. 

 47 F 



