100 years of field work in hydrography: a retrospective of its impacts

Russia and Norway exploit, to a large extent, the same living marine resources in the Barents and Norwegian Seas. At the end o f the 19th century, Russian and Norwegian traditional fisheries were still confined to coastal areas and were subjected to natural disasters and fluctuations in abundance of fish stocks. It was realized in both countries that marine and fisheries-related research had to be extended seawards. A real breakthrough in marine research development was the construction of the first research vessels especially designed for marine and fisheries studies, the RV "Andrei Pervozwarmy" in Russia in 1899 and the RV "Michael Sars" in Norway in 1900. There were two great scientists who succeeded in building the research vessels for high-seas fisheries research - Nikolai Knipowitseh in Russia and Johan Hjort in Norway. They were good friends and had a common understanding of the necessity of cooperation between the two countries in marine and fisheries investigations in the Barents and Norwegian Seas. Coordination o f efforts and standardization of methods and equipment used on board the research vessels were achieved as a result o f fruitful discussions between the two leading scientists. The RV "Michael Sars" performed regular oceanographic and fisheries observations in the Norwegian Sea, and the RV "Andrei Pervozwanny" did the same in the Barents Sea at the dawn of the 20th century. The surveys by these two vessels helped to reveal the basic structure of the circulation pattern and migration of cod, herring, and other food fish in the Barents and Norwegian Seas, and demonstrated the great potential for fisheries in the open ocean. The coordinated studies also illustrated the necessity for conducting accurate scientific investigations before any practical recommendations for the fishing industry could be produced.