The boards on this wall tell the history of herring fishing in which Ragnar Nordström was active from 1931 to 1953. On the opposite side there are three minor compartments representing the seamen’s life on board the Nordström’s ships. The company had own porcelain service decorated with the company flag. The tugs and other minor vessels had more modest service than the bigger freight and passanger ships.
16. FISHING IN THE ARCTIC SEA
Specific to the Nordström owned company was involvement of the company’s vessels in the herring fishing north of Iceland. One or more of these vessels functioned as mother ships, providing accommodation for the fishermen and serving as facilities for preparing of the fish, salting it in wooden barrels, and storing the fish. The steam trawlers and seiners conducted the fishing operations directly. The fishing season lasted from the end of May, when the vessels departed from Valko harbor, until September. The company’s fishing activity led to the establishment of a barrel factory and a fish processing facility in Loviisa.
In 1936 Lovisa Fiskeri Ab – a company established by Ragnar Nordström in 1931 – was combined with Hemming Elvings herring fishing company called Fiskeflotta Ab in Hanko, leading to the formation of the new Finska Fiskeri AB (“Finnish Fisheries Company”), which was owned by Nordström.
Before World War II, Lovisa Fiskeri Ab and its successor Finska Fiskeri Ab undertook a total of nine fishing expeditions. The vessels S/S PETSAMO, S/S BRITA, and S/S GRETA typically functioned as mother ships. Additionally, the steam trawlers that regularly fished in the waters surrounding Petsamo were also involved.
Following World War II, fishing activities recommenced in the spring of 1947. The situation had altered somewhat, as the Petsamo region had been ceded to the Soviet Union. The S/S BRITA, which had sunk in 1944, was salvaged and restored, yet it continued to function as the mother ship for the smaller freighter’s M/S KAARINA and M/S ANGELA, which began operations in the early 1950s.
The final fishing expedition with the company’s own vessels occurred in 1953. Competition had intensified, and Iceland had extended its territorial waters, rendering the operation unprofitable. The herring no longer surfaced as they had in the past, necessitating the use of nets for fishing. The M/S ANGELA and M/S KAARINA were too large for this method of fishing.
Smaller boards on this wall:
Preparations for departure involved, among other tasks, loading barrels produced in Loviisa’s own factory onto the mother ship. During the best summers, the catch exceeded 40,000 barrels of herring. In 1937, it reached an impressive 54,850 barrels. Farewells were exchanged for approximately three months and the journey to Icelandic waters commenced.
The officers of the ships were seasoned seafarers and fishermen. The initial fishing trips, along with many that followed, were commanded by Captain Arvid Knuts from Loviisa.
Fishing operations utilized large ocean-going ships as mother vessels, complemented by steam trawlers as auxiliary vessels. The seine was drawn by rowing boats, which were later replaced by motorized seine boats.
The board displays the Nordström shipping company / Finnish Fisheries’ herring fishing expeditions, the quantity of catch, the mother ship, and the captain’s name.
*) One barrel contained 90 kg of gutted herring. For preservation, 16-18 kg of salt, approximately 6 kg of sugar, and various spices were utilized per barrel.
After the herring shoal was located, the seine boats deployed a net approximately 55 meters high around it, with the bottom secured. The mother ship arrived, and the net was emptied onto its deck. In the hold of the ship, workers mechanically removed the heads of the herring and packed the fish in barrels with salt.
A seine had the capacity to contain more than 1,000 barrels of herring simultaneously, although the amounts caught fluctuated significantly. The earnings of fishermen and other workers comprised a fundamental salary along with a share of the catch, which was a predetermined amount of money for each barrel.
The most successful summer for Finska Fiskeri Ab occurred in 1937, with a total of 54,850 barrels of herring caught, equating to 4,939,000 kg. The summer of 1953 marked the final fishing season for Nordström’s own fleet, yielding only 4,629 barrels. During the summers of 1954 and 1955, fishing continued with a chartered vessel. In the last fishing year, 1955, the total catch amounted only to 1,899 barrels.
Fishermen dedicated their time to locating schools of herring and caring for their fishing equipment.
The return of the fishing fleet was consistently a grand celebration. Family and friends greeted the vessels at the port of Valko. The barrels of herring were sent to the company’s canning facilities in Loviisa and Hanko.
From 1932 to 1944, Nordström’s steam trawlers operated in the Arctic Ocean during the autumn to spring seasons, utilizing the port of Liinahamari in Petsamo as their operational base.
In Liinahamari, the company operated a fishmeal factory that utilized scraps of the fish, among other facilities. During World War II, the port of Liinahamari, managed by Nordström companies, also functioned as a freight transport intermediary.
Four books have been published about herring fishing.