a 
It would thus appear that a similar regularity prevails in the distribution of these 
species on the western to that noted on the eastern side of the Atlantic. 
Norwegian Cod Fisheries. 
The Norwegian fishery statistics distinguish between the catches of two kinds of 
cod; the “skrei” or mature cod, and “cod other than skrei”. Both groups vary greatly 
in size, and in their relation one to another, as will easily be seen from the following table 
for the years 1908 and 1911. The skrei are noted as for number of fish, the other group 
in ke. 
II 
Skrei (no. of fish) | Cod other than skrei (kg.) 
District | 
1908 1911 1908 1911 
Skagerak....... : 10.000 15 300 1 086 300 1811 760 
West Coast ...... 1 240 000 1 152 700 1 585 883 1 234 505 
Romsdal......... 8 326 500 6 708 000 654 850 572 918 
Trondelagen...... 4 074 500 4 505 600 1 609 036 982 540 
Nordland ........ 16 947 700 18 259 600 3 366 989 4 047 184 
Tromso .......... 2 027 300 1 188 600 1'468 000 915 090 
Finmarken....... 2183 100 1 452 800 44 067 015 98 652 036 
In all... | 34809100 33 262 600 53 833 564 08 216 033 
The two largest skrei districts are, as will be seen, Romsdal and Nordland. South 
of Romsdal the catch is as a rule but small; now and again, however, (as in 1913) 
large quantities may exceptionally be taken farther south, towards Bergen. North of 
the Nordland district again, the skrei fishery also decreases, which fact is not so clearly 
shown in the above table, the figures for Finmarken including under skrei the cod taken 
in winter, of which in reality only a part are actually mature (vide infra). The group 
“cod other than skrei” embraces several different elements. In the fiords of the Skagerak 
coast, small sized cod are taken all the year round. In the winter, mature cod are also 
taken; these are, however, not included in the statistics as skrei, partly owing to the 
peculiar nature of the fishery and partly to the small size of the fish. Large cod are taken 
in summer and autumn by deep sea fishing boats from Romsdal, working out on the 
banks. This branch of the fishery furnishes the greater part of the catch entered for 
this district as “cod other than skrei””. The same applies more or less to all the northern 
districts, including Tromso; cod of different sizes are, however, also taken among the 
islands and in the fiords. 
The northernmost district, Finmarken, shows a dominating majority of the group 
“cod other than skrei”; in 1908 over 80 %, in 1911 over 90 %. The Finmark fish, as 
will be seen later on, vary greatly in size. : 
The skrei are, as already mentioned, noted according to number of fish, the remain- 
der in kg. As the sizes in both groups vary greatly, it is extremely difficult to arrive 
at any comparison between them, in point of quantity. Taking the average weight of 
the skrei as 2.7 kg. (gutted weight) as has long been the custom in the statistics, we find 
that the yield of this group in 1908 far exceeded that of the other cod, whereas in 1911 
Lil 
