Bergen

We started our day at the Fish Museum. Here we discussed fishing, whaling, seal hunting and fish farming. The waters of Norway are filled with fish, some twenty species because the gulf stream brings in a lot of ‘red bait’ plankton and warms the water about 6 degrees. Norway exports 95% of the fish it catches, mostly cod. Like other countries they have quotas to maintain the fish stock.

Cod drying in 1800s

Whaling used to be a huge industry here, especially for blue whale because it was so valuable for its oil. In 1930 over 30,000 were killed but by the 1960's only about 200 had survived.  Whaling was banned and now there are about 30,000. Norway, Iceland, and Japan still hunt whales, but today  Norway only hunts Minke whale for food. This year's quota is 1278 out of an estimated population of 90,000. Synthetic oils have reduced the demand for whale oil and thus the need for whale hunting.

Seal hunting took off after 1945, largely because seal fur was used for fashion. The processing of seal fur became a major industry. Of course, the clubbing of baby seals led to the protests by Green Peace and the protests reached worldwide proportions. The Norwegian industry shutdown in 1983.

Demand for salmon has led to salmon farming along the coast of Norway. Farmed salmon has just outstripped wild salmon in volume. 

Ships in harbor from Hanseatic League

A number of us went to the Hanseatic Museum in a building made in 1704 just after the fire of 1701. The Hanseatic League was a city within a city with its own laws. Cod from the North was brought here and sold. Then it was dried into stock fish and packed for shipping to Germany. No fires were allowed in these buildings so the men slept in a cupboard in the center of the building. Cooking was done in separate buildings, the assembly rooms. In later years the kitchen fires fed stoves in the rooms with heat.

Cupboard Bed

That night we went up in the funicular to get a view of the city of Bergen

Goat's Eye view of Bergen