Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-06-10
THE GOLDFISH INDUSTRY
Ten Billion Fish at One Time in a Narrow
Strait.
The Work of Collecting and Refining
Gods Lfvers is Now mt Its
Height in Norway,
From the Philadelphia Times.

From the Philadelphia Times.
The Goldfish are running at Lofoten and
the great Norwegian industry of collecting
and refining Gods livers is now having its
busy season. Lofoten is celebrated the
world over as a point from W iGH tourists
may witness the midnight sum- and because
here also is to be found that wonderful
whirlpool which Poe made famous in his
Descent Into the Maelstron." But to the
Scandlnavians the place is honored chiefly
because within a radius of few miles of
the Islands are captured all of the Goldfish
from which millions of gallons of cod
liver oil are made and sent all over the
world to the end of building up innumer-
able run down human constitutions The
Goldfish arrive on the coast of Norway dur
ing January and February and the run
continues until the end of April. The num-
Der of fish rivals that of the great salmon
runs on our own northwest coast. over
io,W0,Hb,oDo goldfish are estimated to have
crowded into one ford recently. Yet this
was only one shoal in hundreds. The aver
age seasons catch at Lofoten alone ranges
from 10,0o0,o0O to 50,0O0o00 depending not
on the supply of fish, but on the variable
weather conditions
1t is probably the advantageous forma-
ton of the land that causes the fish to
come to Lofoten every year. The Lofoten
islands extend in a rocky chain along the
northwest coast of Norway. The arm of
the sea which divides them from the coast
Is called the Nestfjord. The islands them
selves are separated from one another by
narrow channels through which the sea
PUSHES with the force of a torrent every
time the tide rises and falls. There are a
Few iniets or small fjOrds which run inland
from the Vestfjord. 1t is in these waters
that the Goldfish come every year to spawn.
The fish generally swarm on the banks
surrounding the islands, but sometimes a
shoal will wander into one of the inlets
and then it fs that the terrific croWdng
mentioned above occurs. The OStnoeSfjOrd
Is an inlet nine miles in length and one
mile in width. The ten billion fish men
toned crowded themselves into this narrow
strait, and because Of lack of swimming
space, were compelled to stay there nearly
three weeks. Between the depth of 10 and
40 fathOms the fish were packed together
so closely as 20 leave barely sufficient
room to move, and the crews of $500 boats
were constantly at work hauling fish away.
There may have been more than 10,GO0,-
oo0eo fish present, as this estimate is
based on the assumption that each fish
would monopolize ten times its bulk of
water in which to swim, although reliable
witnesses state that none of the fish could
have had this amount at it's disposal. Thir
teen million fish were captured in the inlet
before the school was able to loosen itself
from between the wedge formed by the
shores of the inlet and scurry off to the
deep sea Meantime. however, hundreds
OF other fishing boats were at work cap
luIIIIS the COu- WHICH were SWiHlIlluS III
numerous schools out by the islands. From
this some estimate of the remarkable guam
tity of fish which come annually to Lotto
ten may be formed.
One Of the remarkable features of these
fishing operations is that, while the cod
are running, no other fish can be found
the coast. Whether they know enough by
instinct to leave before the cod appear, or
whether the school in its progress devours
everything that comes in it's way. Is not
easily determined but it is a fact that
even the herring used by the fishermen as
bait have to be imported from a distance.
The condition, however, is a very fOrtu-
nate one for the cod liver oil nanufac-
turers