"The Four Flows"

by Gro Røde

Lofoten protrudes from the mainland and into the sea like an outstretched arm. The location of the islands catches the eye, and they are therefore displayed on many old and ancient maps. Such an armlike position catches indeed most things, particularly gale force winds, storms and rain ..., but the most important thing this arm embraces is the invisible, life-giving Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream strokes intimately past the Lofoten Islands, creating mild winters, both at sea and on land. Without the Gulf Stream, Lofoten, with its northerly location, would become a cold and desolate place. It would be too cold for people to live on the islands, the Norwegian Arctic cod would not follow the flow to the archipelago, visiting fishermen would not come from north and south, and the thousand-year-old flow of fish products to the world beyond could never have happened.

Tradition of Openness
Lofoten – an all-embracing arm, an inverted fjord? There is a long-standing tradition of openness here, openness when receiving visitors, openness towards news from afar. Experienced genealogists say that old censuses from Lofoten make exciting reading because, over the past couple of hundred years, such a surprisingly large amount of the population has moved here from other regions. People came here from the north and the south, from fjords and valleys – and also from other countries. Lofoten has received visiting fishermen, artists, peddlers and adventurers – and Lofoteners have set out on journeys, too, taking their fish with them. All this has provided new contacts and new impulses. For the most part, all this activity and flow of people was typical of the winter months. Today, the major flow of visitors comes during the summer season, constituting a relatively new and exciting chapter in the history of Lofoten. The main activity, however, still takes place during the winter, when the cod arrive.

The Amazing Journey of the Cod
Lofoten’s be all or end all is inextricably linked to the world’s greatest cod harvest, which takes place from January to April. The Vestfjord, between the islands and the mainland, has been called the world’s biggest maternity ward. It is here the Norwegian Arctic cod come to spawn during the winter. Until the age of 7 or 8, they frolic in the Barents Sea before reaching sexual maturity, whereupon they set off on a most amazing journey back to their place of birth. The journey begins in November-December. The cod steal past Finnmark and Troms, some of them being caught here and there, finally reaching Lofoten in enormous numbers in January, after a journey of some 800 kilometres.

Lofoten Draws them
Why do the cod migrate to the same area every year? Perhaps we might say that the cod has a kind of "instinct" leading it to its goal? Scientists say that this is still one of Nature’s mysteries, but they do know that a number of favourable conditions in Lofoten attract the cod: Perfect spawning temperatures of 4-6 degrees in the sea, correct salinity, suitable depth, appropriate currents and sufficient sustenance for the offspring (crawfish larvae and red copepod larvae). A 5 kilo female cod lays 2.5 million eggs, of which about 20 survive and develop into fish during the first year. Despite such great losses, the future of the species is thus safeguarded, and it is left to man to harvest the seas in a responsible and sustainable manner.

Poet and clergyman, Petter Dass, expressed Nordland’s dependency on the fisheries. His words were written in the 1690’s, and they still apply:

"Yea! The fish in the seas are our daily bread,
Should we lose them, we will suffer and dread,
Forced to utter our miserable sighs."

The catch is landed, gutted, tied and hung up on the shore. The year is c. 1917 (Photo: Wilse)