The North Atlantic Fisheries, 1100-1976 - University of Hull

placing the risk on the fishermen, continued to exist until the second half
of the nineteenth century.
Already around 1240-50 the Hanseatic merchants of Lübeck had
started their trade in Bergen, and a hundred years later their Kontor was
established. 265 From that time onwards they completely dominated the
export of stockfish from Norway. The fishermen from the north therefore
came into direct contact with the representatives of the most powerful
trade organization in northern Europe. It was not always to their
advantage, but the Hanseatics were able to establish a secure trade for the
first time, covering the demand for cereals in the coastal areas. Another
new development was the credit system which at least in the Late Middle
Ages must have been advantageous for the fishermen. In the long run,
however, there were negative side effects as the system created a
dependency on one single merchant, and in consequence a price
monopoly for the Hanseatic merchants. 266
As for the question of living conditions in the north, the trade system
of the Hanseatics no doubt reduced the need to grow cereals in this
climatically vulnerable area. It also made it possible for parts of the
population to specialize in fishing, thereby laying the foundations of the
first permanent fishing villages. 267
Stockfish Prices and the Volume of Exports
Analyses of fish prices from the Late Middle Ages by Lunden and
Nedkvitne have concluded that prices were extraordinarily high in
comparison with cereals in the period 1350-1500. In Bergen 1 kg. of
stockfish had approximately the same value as 2 kg. of rye flour in the
period 1270-1350, while one could get as much as 6-7 kg. of rye flour for
1 kg stockfish between 1350 and 1500. In the period 1500-50 the ratio
had sunk to 1:3 and in the latter half of the same century 1:2 - that is the
same price relation as in the High Middle Ages. 268 The high fish prices in
the Late Middle Ages, combined with the very high taxes still being paid
by Norwegian fishermen around 1520, 269 lend strong support to the
265 Helle 1982: 379-88, 730-50.
266 Helle 1982: 739-40, 770-71.
267 Nielssen 1994.
268 Nedkvitne 1988: 42.
269 Holmsen 1975: 549-554.
150