An Icelandic 'Herring Town' (Explored)
I composed this image while on a driving and hiking trip through Iceland. It is of a small fishing village in Iceland's Eastern Fjord region. I think it's the village of Seyoisfjorour, but I'm not certain. Iceland offers endless visual feasts to its visitors, sights like this being just one example. For those interested, additional information on Iceland's fishing industry is provided below.
From the settlement of Iceland in the late 9th century until the 20th century, Iceland‘s economy rested on farming and fisheries. Since the 14th Century, fish products have been Iceland‘s most important export.
In the last decades of the 19th century, fishing in Iceland utilized open rowing boats that only could sail a few miles from the shoreline. The fishing season was from late January until early May, thus Iceland’s southern and western parts became the predominant fishing regions.
At the end of the 19th Century, people started to move from the country to the seaside, establishing small villages concurrent when the fisheries became the main industry, and fishermen became a specialized profession.
The introduction of motorized vessels at the beginning of the 20th century revolutionized Icelandic fisheries. As the fishing capacity grew, so did the total catch. Iceland acquired a modern fishing fleet in only two decades, technically second to none in Northern Europe.
The overall catch for demersal species, which are those species that live on or near the bottom of lakes or sea, has experienced significant progression and increased value in the catch over the last century. In 1905 there was a catch of 62,500 tons; 80,400 tons in 1920; and 216,700 tons in 1930. In 2021 the overall catch amounted to 1,158,000 tons, and of that, 473,000 tons was the demersal species.
The export value of marine products in 2021 was a total of ISK 296 billion (ISK refers to the Icelandic Kronur), or 38.8% of the total export. The seafood industry contributes 11% to the GDP directly and 25% if an account is taken of the indirect effects of the ocean catch.
It is interesting to note that approximately 5% of Iceland’s workforce is employed directly in the fishing industry.
A breakthrough in herring fisheries came in the early 20th century with the more effective purse-seine and drift nets. A seine is a large fishing net that hangs vertically in the water, having floats at the upper edge and sinkers at the lower. A purse-seine is a much larger seine used by two boats, whereby the net is drawn around a school of fish and then closed at the bottom by means of a line passing through rings that are attached along the lower edge of the net. As a result, distant “herring towns” and villages rose to prominence. Siglufjörður in North Iceland presents a prime example of how herring fisheries affected urban development in Iceland.
Herring fisheries experienced less activity following the Second World War but hit new heights in the early 1960s. Successful developments in the herring industry, with heavy investments in fishing and processing capacity, as well as improved infrastructure, triggered a dramatic collapse of the herring stock in 1968. This imposed serious economic consequences for Iceland. These events provided vital lessons learned when Iceland devised their new fishery management system.
After the herring crash, the herring fleet in the 1970s turned to developing capelin, or caplin, a small forage fish of the smelt family. With a highly focused research and development programme, and targeted marketing, even more capelin catch was processed for human consumption. The fish was whole frozen with roe-filled females, as well as separated roes. These were produced for the Japanese market for making various delicacies, including capelin roe caviar.
Iceland’s fishing boundaries changed over the years. In 1952 Iceland unilaterally claimed a four-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and then further extended it to 12 nautical miles in 1958. The Icelandic government announced in early 1972 its decision to further extend the EEZ to 50 nautical miles. On 15 October 1975 the Icelandic government announced its decision to extend the EEZ to 200 nautical miles.
It could be termed that ‘all hell broke loose’ when this announcement occurred. It was primarily Britain that sternly refused to acknowledge the 200 nautical mile limit and called upon her navy to protect British fishing vessels while trawling in Icelandic waters. The dispute reached international levels before a resolution was achieved in Oslo, Norway in May 1976. The 200 nautical mile limit became internationally adopted during the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The fishing industry remains one of the main pillars of the Icelandic economy. Marine products continue as a leading export item. Through sustainable harvest and protection of the marine ecosystem, Iceland has created one of the world's most modern and competitive seafood industries. The extensive research of stocks and managing catch sizes with the setting of quotas has ensured a responsible fishing industry exists and respects the sustainability of the ocean’s natural resources.
An Icelandic 'Herring Town' (Explored)
I composed this image while on a driving and hiking trip through Iceland. It is of a small fishing village in Iceland's Eastern Fjord region. I think it's the village of Seyoisfjorour, but I'm not certain. Iceland offers endless visual feasts to its visitors, sights like this being just one example. For those interested, additional information on Iceland's fishing industry is provided below.
From the settlement of Iceland in the late 9th century until the 20th century, Iceland‘s economy rested on farming and fisheries. Since the 14th Century, fish products have been Iceland‘s most important export.
In the last decades of the 19th century, fishing in Iceland utilized open rowing boats that only could sail a few miles from the shoreline. The fishing season was from late January until early May, thus Iceland’s southern and western parts became the predominant fishing regions.
At the end of the 19th Century, people started to move from the country to the seaside, establishing small villages concurrent when the fisheries became the main industry, and fishermen became a specialized profession.
The introduction of motorized vessels at the beginning of the 20th century revolutionized Icelandic fisheries. As the fishing capacity grew, so did the total catch. Iceland acquired a modern fishing fleet in only two decades, technically second to none in Northern Europe.
The overall catch for demersal species, which are those species that live on or near the bottom of lakes or sea, has experienced significant progression and increased value in the catch over the last century. In 1905 there was a catch of 62,500 tons; 80,400 tons in 1920; and 216,700 tons in 1930. In 2021 the overall catch amounted to 1,158,000 tons, and of that, 473,000 tons was the demersal species.
The export value of marine products in 2021 was a total of ISK 296 billion (ISK refers to the Icelandic Kronur), or 38.8% of the total export. The seafood industry contributes 11% to the GDP directly and 25% if an account is taken of the indirect effects of the ocean catch.
It is interesting to note that approximately 5% of Iceland’s workforce is employed directly in the fishing industry.
A breakthrough in herring fisheries came in the early 20th century with the more effective purse-seine and drift nets. A seine is a large fishing net that hangs vertically in the water, having floats at the upper edge and sinkers at the lower. A purse-seine is a much larger seine used by two boats, whereby the net is drawn around a school of fish and then closed at the bottom by means of a line passing through rings that are attached along the lower edge of the net. As a result, distant “herring towns” and villages rose to prominence. Siglufjörður in North Iceland presents a prime example of how herring fisheries affected urban development in Iceland.
Herring fisheries experienced less activity following the Second World War but hit new heights in the early 1960s. Successful developments in the herring industry, with heavy investments in fishing and processing capacity, as well as improved infrastructure, triggered a dramatic collapse of the herring stock in 1968. This imposed serious economic consequences for Iceland. These events provided vital lessons learned when Iceland devised their new fishery management system.
After the herring crash, the herring fleet in the 1970s turned to developing capelin, or caplin, a small forage fish of the smelt family. With a highly focused research and development programme, and targeted marketing, even more capelin catch was processed for human consumption. The fish was whole frozen with roe-filled females, as well as separated roes. These were produced for the Japanese market for making various delicacies, including capelin roe caviar.
Iceland’s fishing boundaries changed over the years. In 1952 Iceland unilaterally claimed a four-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and then further extended it to 12 nautical miles in 1958. The Icelandic government announced in early 1972 its decision to further extend the EEZ to 50 nautical miles. On 15 October 1975 the Icelandic government announced its decision to extend the EEZ to 200 nautical miles.
It could be termed that ‘all hell broke loose’ when this announcement occurred. It was primarily Britain that sternly refused to acknowledge the 200 nautical mile limit and called upon her navy to protect British fishing vessels while trawling in Icelandic waters. The dispute reached international levels before a resolution was achieved in Oslo, Norway in May 1976. The 200 nautical mile limit became internationally adopted during the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The fishing industry remains one of the main pillars of the Icelandic economy. Marine products continue as a leading export item. Through sustainable harvest and protection of the marine ecosystem, Iceland has created one of the world's most modern and competitive seafood industries. The extensive research of stocks and managing catch sizes with the setting of quotas has ensured a responsible fishing industry exists and respects the sustainability of the ocean’s natural resources.