On March 5th the following temperatures were noted: 

 At fathoms S^.O C. 



10 - 



3«.l 



20 



- 40.0 



30 



- 40.0 



50 



50.0 



60 - 



50.4 



In 1886 the fishing off Hop en was not a good one, while on the 

 contrary it succeeded very well off Henningsvser. The temperature, 

 from the surface to 50' — 60 f., w^as, from March 11th to April 3rd, 

 rather unchanged in the fishing waters off Hopen. This is of interest, 

 because many measurements from the previous year had shown a 

 most unstable and very variable distribution of temperature. 



The measurement on March 11th gives these results; 

 At fathoms 2°A C. 



10 - 



- 2».5 



20 - 



- 20.5 



30 



20.6 



40 - 



20.8 



50 



- 30.0 



If we compare this table with the measurements of March 5th 

 1885 the difference is striking. 



In 1887 no temperature measurements were undertaken by 

 the supervision service, but Edvabd Meisfjoed, the captain of a 

 fishing boat, employed a deep water thermometer in the execution 

 of his profession, and thought it to have been of great service 

 to him. 



In that year appeared professor Mohn's well-known work 

 "Depths, teniperatu]-e, and currents of the North Ocean". Pro- 

 fessor MoHN has here given a description of the natural con- 

 dition of the whole of the North Ocean, based on the knowledge 

 obtained by the Norwegian expeditions of 1876 to 1878. The 

 work besides contains a great deal of information on the hy- 

 drography of the fishing banks and fjords. Several of these 

 results are of special importance ibr the hydrography of the Test 

 ijoi-d and the Lofoten banks, and I shall, at the end of the present 

 chapter, mention some of the facts for comparison with my own 

 ni(asurenients. In 1888 no measurements were made by the super- 

 vision, but Edvaed Meisfjoed went on constantly employing his 

 thermometer, and was confirmed in tlie belief in its practical use- 

 fulness. The following year five boat-captains had thermometers, 

 and all express the opinion that the cod was to be sought in water 

 of 4—5" C. 



The year 1890 seems to have shown special conditions for the 

 fishing according to the report of the supervision cliief, Mr. Knap. 

 The cod at an early period migrated to the shores, pressing into 

 fjords and bays. A good fishing could thus go on close to the shore 

 at a depth of 5—10 fathoms. It is true that only a few measure- 

 ments were taken, but these at any rate do not seem to indicate 

 exceptional temperatures. Thus it does not appear that for instance 

 the higher water strata have had a higher temperature than usualy. 

 In the years 1891 — 92 the government caused temperature 

 measurements to be undertaken in Lofoten on a greater scale. 

 They were made by marine lieutenant Gade, who published the 



results in 'Temperaturmaalinger i Lofoten 1891—92, Kristiania 

 1894". The whole fishing sea of Lofoten was thus for the first 

 time subjected to a systematic examination as to the occurring 

 temperature conditions. In 1891 the lowest temperature {0°.b C.) 

 was measured in the surface of the Ostnes-fjord, on March 16th, 

 and the highest (60.6 C.) at 75 fathoms on March 28th on the 

 edge south of Skraaven. The temp, of 60 was usually reached at 

 75—100 f The highest surface temp., 30.6 C, was measured on 

 Feb. 26th in the Raftsund. In 1892 the temperature conditions 

 differed vei'y much from those of the previous year. About the 

 middle of January tliere was in Vestlofoten about 50 in the surface, 

 and at the bottom of the bank, in several places 70 and more. 

 Even in East Lofoten the surface temperature at the end of Janu- 

 ary was about 4". In the course of February and March the 

 temperature decreased in the surface strata, but the deeper strata 

 constantly kept at about 7". Temperatures of above 7" in winter 

 have not been found in Lofoten, neither before nor afterwards; 

 the conditions of the fishing sea must certainly have differed much 

 from the usual ones. The comparative particulars of the progress 

 of the fishing given by Mr. Gade show that the fishing went on 

 without any difference in water of 4° — 7" C. 



In the years 1893 — 94 no observations were undertaken under 

 government authority, but several boat-captains used the thermo- 

 meter, and the belief in the usefulness of this instrument was 

 kept alive. 



By agreement between commodore Knap and dr. Hjort, 

 samples of the sea water were taken in 1895 by the captain 

 of the saving sloop "Liv" in the fishing sea off Henningsvffir. 

 Besides,^ Mr. Knap caused samples to be taken at several other 

 places in East Lofoten. The result of this work is printed in dr. 

 Hjort's book C'Hydrografisk-biologiske studier over norske fiske- 

 I'ier", p. 140 — 142). The temperatures given there show a normal 

 character, and the saltness of the surface varies between 32.83 and 

 33.71 pro mille. The saltness is slowly increasing from the surface 

 towards the bottom. 5" C. is reached at different depths, the 

 saltness as a rule then exceeding 34 "/oo. In the autumn of 1895 

 Mr. H.JOET himself undertook an expedition to Lofoten (hydrogr. 

 tables A. II.). In 1896 captain Bie and myself took 5 sections 

 in the coast sea from Stavanger to Lofoten, after which we made 

 observations in the Lofoten fishing sea, partly in saving sloops, 

 partly in steamers. Besides water samples, plancton was also 

 taken. 



In the winter of 1897 I undertook alone observations in 

 Lofoten, A^esteraalen. and Ofoten. 



Professor Mohn has in his above mentioned work (1. c.) col- 

 lected a great number of interesting facts about the seas that sur- 

 round Norway. However, as it is not my task to give a general 

 view of the hydrography of the North Ocean, I will from Mr. Mohn's 

 work only quote what is most necessary for illustrating the local 

 conditions in Lofoten. From the table at page 49 will be seen 

 that the distribution of temperature on the edge off Lofoten pre- 

 sents itself thus 



