Anne Marie

Anne-Marie Eriksen.

At the age of 13, she began her career as a fisher, and since then she devoted her entire life to fishing. Anne Marie Eriksen from Olderfjord in Kvænangen rowed in an open boat and braved the weather, summer and winter. She teached many young boys in the fishing profession.

Anne Marie Eriksen (1881- 1968), Olderfjord

Anne Marie was the youngest in the group of siblings with a brother and several sisters. The father was fishing, and needed more help than from the one son. So Anne Marie was taken to the sea from the time she was big enough to hold the oars. She tied and mended nets, and from the age of 13 she went to sea as a fisher.

When her father died, she took over the entire fishing farm with boat, net and all accessories, aged just 15. Anne Marie had great faith in fishing luck and God, and believed that men gave little fishing luck. Although other fishermen got a motor as soon as it became possible, Anne Marie was stuck to her oars, and expressed that she had little faith that a motor would pay off, since it so often would not start anyway.

Healthy as a fish

Anne Marie was known for helping those who were not so well off. She is described as kind, but also tough and direct. She was blessed with good health all her life. Once she was sent to Tromsø to remove varicose veins. The doctor who examined her says “Not many people have your health Anne Marie”. Then she replied: “No, fresh air and fresh work bring health, that is why I am as healthy as a fish.”

Anne Marie taught many young people her fishing skills. Anne Marie, who lived alone, rowed in an open boat, and chewed tobacco. For her participation in a male-dominated profession, she received the first Ulabrand statuette in 1961, awarded by Erik Bye. In a radio program in connection with this, she was interviewed by Bye. He wondered why she had not married:

Before I get married, I will buy a cow. Because I will get benefits from it. I’ve had a cow before, and then I had both sour cream and cream and butter, everything I needed to live on. I will take care of that man as if he were a cow.

In 1961, Anne Marie was awarded the first Ulabrand statuette. Here she is interviewed by Erik Bye:

Anne Marie Eriksen i KK 1963.

“As strange as it may sound, I caught fish when others didn’t catch anything. “There’s Anne Marie rowing!” one fisherman could shout, and then the others followed. Because I found my own fishing spots – where there were no others , there I set my nets. Once a fisherman from Kvænangen said somewhere: “Anne Marie, you always catch fish, you find the fish, and the rest of us chase both you and the fish when we follow.”