The shoals of skrei ( i.. e. large mature cod) which each winter migrate from the Barents Sea to the spawning grounds on the Norwegian coast have always been the most important resources fitr the cod fisheries of North Norway. It is therefore with great concern that the Norwegian authorities have noted the marked decline which has taken place in the yield of this fishery in later years. The following report is an attempt to study this decline. The biological and statistical data which were available to us while working up this report were restricted and in part unsatisfactory. By waiting some years more for further information we could undoubtedly have presented a more complete picture of the state of the arctic cod. It was felt, however, that some of the features of this preliminary report were important enough to deserve close consideration by the nations which are interested in this northern area.