AN ACCOUNT OF THE FISHERIES OF NORWAY IN 1877. 713 



cnlly in the water by meaDS of floats or buoys of cork, juniper, or wil- 

 low, but lately, and especially in Lofi'oden, they use glass balls, in- 

 vented some thirty years ago, covered with knotted, tarred cord ns 

 a protection. These balls or floats are attached to the nets and replace 

 to great advantage the old buoys, which failed to prevent the nets from 

 settling on the bottom. The nets are joined together in lines of sixteen 

 to twenty, forming thus fences or walls of 300 to 400 fathoms in length 

 and 10 to 12 feet in height. The apparatus is dropped in the water in 

 the evening simultaneously by all the fishermen, and, according to 

 the position of the fish, they extend the nets to the bottom or above it. 

 The distance from the coast varies very much ; it is sometimes 5 or G 

 miles; in Western Loflbden it is 10, and in Sondmore 20 to 30 miles. It 

 is evident that the nets should not be set at the same place as the trawls. 

 Every morning, when the weather permits, the nets are raised; and if 

 everything is favorable GOO cod to a boat may be gathered in, though 

 they will not take the hook, and the trawl cannot be used. This is all 

 that a boat can carry without too much labor when the weather is 

 stormy. If the catch be still more prolific, the raising of some of the 

 nets is deferred for a time. A haul of 350 cod per boat in a night is 

 considered satisfactory and a good average. 



d. Seines or bottom-nets. — These engines have been introduced in later 

 years with success in the fisheries of the Lofifoden Islands. The seines 

 are formed by nets joined together by an ingenious system of cordage, 

 fastened at the bottom by anchors, and at the surface by boats. At a 

 given signal, and by the assistance of a tackle and cords, the lower edge 

 of the seine may be raised, thus encircling the part of the surface com- 

 prised between the boats, and imprisoning all the cod contained therein. 

 For one seine 30 to 40 men and 6 to 8 boats are generally required. 



2. The daily fishing. 



In the heart of winter, in the dark and stormy days of January, 

 early or late, according to the length of the route to be traversed, the 

 fishermen set out in their covered boats, so as to be at their destina- 

 tion as soon as the season commences. To the more southern fisheries 

 from Sondmore to the prefecture of JS^orth Drontheim, the course is 

 never very long — at the most 45 to 55 miles — the fishermen coming from 

 the bays of iNorthem Sondmore. But it is quite different as regards 

 the Loff"oden fisheries, where the route for most of the fishermen is at 

 least 250 to 350 miles, whether at open sea or through the gulfs, where 

 the sea is often very rough ; and at the last part of the voyage, the pas- 

 sage of the Vestfjord, the navigation is far from being good. These 

 thousands of vessels, however, many having a crew of but two or three 

 men apiece, generally arrive in safety at their destination. 



Upon arrival the fishermen, both those working on their own account 

 and such as are hired, proceed to the cabins rented to them by the pro- 

 prietor of the soil, and there install themselves for the winter. These 



