Along the coastline of Norway, the circumstances for spearfishing are excellent almost all through the year. In this article we will concentrate on the West of Norway, in the area around the city of Bergen.

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Underwater hunting is a relativly new activity here in Norway. Free diving and underwater hunting have for a long time been overshadowed by scuba diving. Some of the big diving centres must take some of the blame for this. Since they wish to educate as many scuba divers as possible, which helps them to sell equipment 5 times as expensive as free diving equipment.

For many years there have been a small number of active free divers and underwater hunters. In the last years some free diving enthusiast have done a remarkable job putting free diving and underwater hunting on the map. This have led to a dramatic increase in the number of divers during the last 3 years.

Many people have discovered this excellent activity which involves:

• Nature experience
• Action
• Friendship
• Cooking and
• Good exercise

Norway has a long coastline which with its many fjords and islands would reach around the equator. Kelps and seaweeds of different types dominate the coastline, this together with the temperate water from the Gulf stream makes an excellent environment for a lot of different types of fish. Fishing, and the use of sea as a resource, is therefore one of the Norway 's primary industries.

The fish usually stay deep in the winter, but the winter also brings along amazing visibility and temperatures between 4-7 degrees Celsius. The sea temperatures are rising when the spring arrives. At the same time the fish start to show up in shallower water. Small coalfish and herring eat a lot of artemia (a group of microscopic shrimps), and larger predators like cod and pollack feed on these fish.

In the summer there are less fish to see, and the visibility in the sea can be very unstable. It's important to be in the right place at the right time! From September to December the environment for spear fishing again becomes very good like in the spring. The visibility usually gets better (depends on how much rain is falling) and the fish again enters the shallows. From December the seatemperature starts to decrease noticably, and the fish go down in the deep blue again.

Spear fishing competitions

In Norway we have a few formal competitions, Kristiansand Cup and NM-cup, but most active hunters and diver's free dive together with friends in private gatherings. Also there is a newly established Norwegian Record list for UW-hunting, where the official biggest fishes are registered. An award is given from the firm Frivannsliv AS, for the biggest fish of selected species caught during the year.

Combine it with kayak paddling

Some UW-hunters prefer to use a kayak, on their outings. Similar boats were probably used by the first Norwegians who settled in the icy landscape, about 10 000 years ago. The kayak is easy to take (on the top of the car), within it there's place enough to have all necessary diving equipment, and you can travel amoung the islands, straits and shores you cannot reach by car.

Great places for camping!

Outdoor-/Nature life is for many of us, an important part of the hobby. Therefore lavoo (a traditional Norwegian tent), is a good alternative for those of us who also want to spend a night or two in the wild and beautiful nature of Norway . It is possible for everyone to wander and camp freely in Norwegian nature as long as it does not disturb the landowner.

The most common fishtypes

We are now going to describe UW-hunting on the most common fishes, which is also fish of excellent eating quality.

• Coastal Cod (Gadus Morhua, in Norwegian: Torsk)
  
  This brown red fish can be up to 50 kg , but it's rarely to see them bigger than 25 kg . The coastal cod is operation much of the time near bottom and kelp forests, where it eats small fish and crabs. It also goes pelagic under the big fish schools, where it feed on smaller fish.
  
  The coastal cod is best to surprise from above where it has a "blind zone". We drift down on them with out a noise and aim at head/neck region. Most of the coastal cods we spear are between 2- 15 kg.
  
  This fish is highly appreciated for eating; it has white and solid meat. It is used among other things in the Italian Bacalo.
  
  
• Pollack (Pollachius pollachius, in Norwegian: Lyr)
  
  The pollack belongs to the same family as the coastal cod, but is more stretched and pale. It has under bite and operates mostly pelagic. The pollack hunt small fish and is a smart hunter.
  
  When approaching the pollack, it often becomes sceptical and starts to move away from the hunter. If you then raise your speed it will soon be out of reach. But since the pollack is curios it can be smart to stop dead and the fish will often do the same, often it is likely to turn around wondering where you went.
  
  This fish is a quick and strong fish and it's important to get a god hit with the spear gun arrow. The fishes we meet are mostly between 2- 10 kg . The fish seldom grow larger then 12 kg and 120 cm long. It's an excellent fish to eat, and it's mostly fried.
  

• Wolf fish (Anarhicas lupus, in Norwegian: Steinbit)
  
  This fish is highly rewarded because of its meat. It lives purely on shellfish and sea urchins. The wolf fish can reach a weight up to 25 kg and has enormously strong jaws and can easily crush your fingers if you handle it clumsy. We mostly meet species between 3- 10 kg . It is not afraid of the hunter what so ever so it's easy to approach it.
  
  
  
  
  
• Anglerfish (Lophius piscatorius, in Norwegian: Breiflabb)
  
  As the wolf fish the anglerfish also is a bottom fish and has very attractive meat. It's expensive to eat at restaurants in Norway.
  
  It mostly lies with excellent camouflage on the bottom, waiting for small fish to pass close by. The fin in front function as fishing rod, which in the end has a small piece of skin it use to attract its prey. When it opens its enormous moth the prey is sucked in by the back sweep of the water. The main body is only 1/3 of the body length. The fish can reach a weight over 70 kg , and large specimen of the species can also be met in relatively shallow water. We mostly meet this fish while searching for shells on sand bottom.
  
  
  
• Plaice (Pleuronectus platessa, in Norwegian: Rødspette)
  
  The plaice is one of the most common bottom fish in Norway . Beautiful white meat, the best quality is from the summer to the winter. The can be rather slink in the spring after spawning and the meat quality can be poor.
  
  We usually catch them when they are 1- 4 kg . They are easy to approach, but can be very good camouflaged against the sandy bottom.
  
  
  
  
  
• Turbot (Scopinalmus maxima, in Norwegian: Piggvar)
  
  This flat fish can grow as large as 25 kg , is beautiful for eating, and our "teeth runs in water" when we see them. The fish is often much camouflaged, but when you first have spotted one you can be sure of the catch.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus, in Norwegian: Kveite)
  
  A spear fishers dream! So far there is not many registered catches of this flat fish that can grow up to 300 kg and reach 3 meters in length! The art have declined the last 40 years, but there is expected a raise in numbers in the future. When we meet specimens under 5 kilo we leave them alone, so that they have a chance to grow and reproduce. We seldom meet this fish, which can also hunt pelagic on the large schools of coalfish (nor: pale) and herring (sild).
  
  There is also a lot of other fish species which we hunt, like ballan wrasse (nor: berggylte) , thornback ray (piggskate), herring (sild), mackerel (makrell), eel (ål), a lot of flat fish varieties, and so forth.

Hunting conditions

The best places for hunting are without doubt the current straits. The tide brings along bait for the fish, and in the fish gathers to swallow what pass their mouth. In some of these straits the current can reach a speed off 6 knots, and it's important to use the current in a strategic way. The hunting is often done close to shore where the water stands still or moves the opposite way of the main current. Experienced underwater hunters hunts down to 20 meters depth, but a lot of the catch is done in 6- 12 meters .

Equipment

Wetsuits, socks and gloves that we use all year is 6-7mm thick. Because of cold water during the winter and spring,the face opening in the hood of the wetsuit must be very small so that it covers both frontal bone and chin (see pictures).

Wrong

Right

Many find that Elios and Sporasub suits have the best hood solution. But of course are there a lot of other suit types in use all over the country.

The range of spear guns is mostly the same as Italian's use, but many Norwegians prefers not to use a reel on the spear gun, but instead connect the spear gun directly to the float with a line that runs freely through a carbine hook in the weight belt. (See picture)

This year the first movie about UW-hunting in Norway released, and we expect to see more movies coming in the next years.

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Written by Børje Møster