Basque whalers hunted whales in the Atlantic Ocean from 670 until 1713. The hunting grounds for this whaling included not only home in Bisqayabukta, but stretched all the way to Spitsbergen in the north and as far south as to Brazil.
Consequently, strong ties were established between the Arctic Vikings in northern Norway and the Basque whalers.
Experiences were exchanged in many practical areas of whaling and fisheries.
The absolute most important knowledge the Basques took from the Arctic Viking was how to build seagoing ships. It was only the Vikings who could build such ships at that time.
It was on their journey to northern Norway that the Basques discovered the wandering fish, Skrei, Gadus morhua. They followed the Viking routes and became aware of the walking pattern of Skreien. It covered the entire northern hemisphere.
They followed the Vikings to Newfoundland. It became Basque's main fishing areas for Skrei, Gadus Morhua. And also their secret. No one in Europe could understand how the Basques could find such amounts with Skrei.
The baskets had salt. They spotted the ship and salted it aboard the boats. Carried it to Basque Country and had control of the sales of all salted fish in Europe for hundreds of years.
The baskets have always been, and are still very capable of associating alliances instead of starting wars. Such an alliance with the Catholic Church for hundreds of years was an important factor in preserving the hegemony of salted fish sales. It is also the cultural background for why Salt Skrei is strongly rooted in the food culture of the Iberian Peninsula, Spain, Portugal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_right_whale
Eubalaena glacialis was the whale of the Basques hunted, see the extent of it in the picture below:
Nordkaper can weigh up to 100 tons and has the property that it flows when it is dead. Therefore, it was also a species that was possible to hunt for.
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