Arctic Trading Co. () was a Norwegian company founded on 24 June 1929. The company had commercial interests in East Greenland in the areas of fishing, hunting and trapping. It also operated the

Myggbukta Myggbukta () was a Norwegian whaling, meteorological and radio station (Myggbukta Radio/LMG) located on the coast of Eastern Greenland in present-day King Christian X Land. The site is located at the head of Mackenzie Bay, in the area of the is ...

radio and meteorological station on behalf of the Norwegian state. The company was founded in Norway by a group of people with interests in the polar regions, including trapper

Hallvard Devold Hallvard Ophuus Devold (8 November 1898 – 10 September 1957) was a Norwegian Arctic explorer, trapper and meteorologist. He was instrumental in the attempt to establish Eric the Red's Land in 1931. His brother Finn Devold (1902–1977) shar ...

who was CEO in the first years, and the head of the Norwegian Svalbard and Arctic Ocean Survey (NSIU),

Adolf Hoel Adolf Hoel (15 May 1879 – 19 February 1964) was a Norwegian geologist, environmentalist and Polar region researcher. He led several scientific expeditions to Svalbard and Greenland. Hoel has been described as one of the most iconic and influenti ...

. Hoel was the chairman of the company until 1945. Since its foundation Arctic Trading Co. was run through the NSIU, which from 1948 became the

Norwegian Polar Institute The Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI; ) is Norway's central governmental institution for scientific research, mapping and environmental monitoring in the Arctic and the Antarctic. The NPI is a directorate under Norway's Ministry of Climate and Envir ...

. The company helped to create a network of Norwegian hunting stations in East Greenland in the second half of the 1920s. Arctic Trading Co. provided free travel and equipment to the hunters and trappers manning the cabins, but they had to bring their own weapons and supplies. The company retained 40% of the gross value of the furs and 25% of the

arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic realm, Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It Spaw ...

and salmon catch, leaving the rest to the trapper. Furs were mainly from the

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Tundra#Arctic tundra, Arctic tundra biome. I ...

, white fox fur and

blue fox fur Blue fox fur is a type of fur obtained from the arctic fox (most specifically, its blue variant). The other of the two zoological morphs is called white fox, whose fur (the white fox fur) is also a fur commodity. The blue fox, an arctic fox vari ...

. Norwegian operations in East Greenland were concluded in 1959, but the company was not closed pending other possible business opportunities in the area. Finally, at the request of the

Ministry of Trade and Industry A ministry of trade and industry, ministry of commerce, ministry of commerce and industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and ...

, which was one of the shareholders, an extraordinary general meeting was called on 26 May 1981 to wrap up the company. The company's archives are kept at the State Archives in

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

References

{{Authority control Defunct companies of Norway Norwegian companies established in 1929 Companies disestablished in 1981 1981 disestablishments in Norway

See also

References