Fishing Norwegian Fjords
| Map of Moskstraumen (The Maelstrom) |
Moskstraumen or the Maelstrom, in Lofoten, is one of the strongest tidal currents in the world. Its reputation as a destructive area to ships has, rightly or wrongly, inspired many authors to feature it as a sort of doomsday whirlpool, in some of the most famous fictional tales of the sea ever written.
It inspired Edgar Allan Poe's shipwreck story, A Descent into the Maelström, a detailed account of a survivor's encounter with the powerful whirlpool. Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea ends with captain Nemo steering the Nautilius into it, apparently to commit suicide. In Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Captain Ahab vows to chase the whale round the Norway Maelstrom, just after promising to chase it round the Horn, and right before adding "round perdition's flames".
Talk about a bad reputation. Treacherous waters these may be, but there are plenty of fish here, and indeed throughout Lofoten, which is a traditional center of the Norwegian fishing industry.
Authors have embellished their accounts of the area for dramatic effect, but nevertheless Moskstraumen is a hazardous area and a visitor should not rent a boat to try to fish it. An experienced local fisherman knowledgeable of the area should be sought.