ANDERSSEN, FISHERY EXHIBITION, PHILADELPHIA, 18''6. 69 



After what lias been said above it might seem practical to use steam- 

 ers instead of sailing-vessels for the fisheries, but in the present condi- 

 tion of the fisheries there would be much in the way of carrying out 

 this idea. I have some experience in this matter, for a few years ago I, 

 in company with Mr. Frederik Hanssen and Mr. Jens Sahl, built and 

 equipped a fishing-steamer of about 20 horse-power and a tonnage of 

 about 500. This steamer Erkno, which otherwise was a perfect success 

 in every respect, and which was intended for the spring-herring fisheries 

 and the bank-fisheries, was, after a few foilures, chiefly occasioned by the 

 stoppage of the spring-herring fisheries, sold to the Sondmore-Eomsdal 

 Steamship Company. The exjjenses of a tolerably strong and not too 

 small steamer like the Erkno are too great in proportion to the advan- 

 tage accruing from its use. If enterprises of this kind are to pay, they 

 ought to be carried on on a large and well-devised plan, requii'iug con- 

 siderable capital. 



The attempts which have been made to use fishing-steamers both in 

 the Loffoden and in Finmarken have proved the correctness of this 

 view. Even in America the use of steamers in the fisheries (excepting 

 of course the seal and whale fisheries) is very limited. 



The use of floating nets deserves attention next to the use of the purse- 

 seine, as has been fully proved by the experiences of the Stavanger fish- 

 ermen during the last year. Practical and well-equipped fishing-boats, 

 as well as good and strong fishing implements will always pay in the 

 long run, although the first outlay may be considerable. 



The necessity of ha\'ing suitable laws for protecting the fish and their 

 young, and of having systematic arrangements for restocking our rivers 

 and lakes with fish, partly by artificial hatching and partly by trans- 

 ferring fish and their young from one water to the other, deserves our 

 fullest attention, and we may learn a great deal from America in this 

 respect. 



The method of preparing fish for the trade is likewise a question of 

 great importance to our country. Every one acquainted with these 

 matters knows what a loss is involved by drying salt codfish too little, to 

 soak it, as is the custom with us, and to dry it lying in an oblique posi- 

 tion. By this wrong way of treating the fish, not to mention the great 

 carelessness in killing and cleaning it, and in letting too much time 

 elapse before salting it, it of course loses much of its nourishing quality 

 and its juiciness, becomes softer, lighter in weiglit, and will not keep as 

 well. The di^ying process with us is generally carried on too slowly and 

 in too careless a manner, as the fish remain unnecessarily long piled up 

 in heaps without being turned ; they consequently begin to ferment and 

 turn dark and sour. The consequence of drying codfish on rocks which 

 are heated by the sun, is that the fish are often burned and get shrivelled. 

 The drying of codfish on scaftbldings or on small stones has this ad- 

 vantage, that it does not burn so easily and that it dries better, the 

 warmth and the air acting evenly on both sides of the fish. To salt the 



