Trawlers

The first trawler to be reported in Icelandic waters was a British trawler, in 1890. There were more of them each year thereafter, and at the turn of the century the estimated number in Icelandic waters was around one hundred foreign trawlers, most of them British. In 1904, one year before statistics on the distant water fisheries in Icelandic waters became available, there were 180 trawlers reported in Icelandic waters, 150 of them British. For comparison, 100 Norwegian boats fishing for herring, 150 French schooners, 100 Faroese and 130 Icelandic decked sailing vessels, and 2000 Icelandic rowing boats were also reported in the same year.

The trawlers were initially unpopular among the Icelanders, since they frequently ruined the Icelandic fishing gear and were suspected of “destroying” the fishing grounds. However, the Icelanders realized that their operation could not be prevented and, furthermore, that the trawlers brought with them many opportunities and benefits, such as better crew conditions, the ability to fish throughout the year and bring stable catches. Soon Icelanders began their own trawl experiments. The first Icelandic experiment with trawl was in 1901 with a sail trawler, followed by the first Icelandic steam trawler in 1904. Since then, trawlers have been in continuous use by Icelanders.

The trawlers numbered about 20 during the First World War years. The trawler fleet was almost entirely renewed after the war and reached the number of 47 in 1928 but declined in numbers after that because of the Great Depression (see more on this on the pages on history). After the Second World War, the fleet was again almost entirely renewed, now with much larger and more modern steam or motor powered sidewinders. These trawlers were around 40 from 1950 to 1960, but their number fell after that since they were very expensive to operate. In 1970 the Icelandic trawlers were around 20, a similar number as in 1914.

Then began what was one of the greatest revolutions in Icelandic fisheries. The first stern trawlers began operations in Icelandic waters in 1970, and only 9 years later there were 82 of these and the sidewinders had all been phased out of the trawler business (some were successfully converted to purse seiners, see the page on large decked boats). The stern trawlers reached the highest number in 1996, when 121 trawlers were in use. However, their effectiveness was their undoing, as the fish stocks around Iceland could not support fisheries at this level. Restricted TAC´s have meant that the number of trawlers has declined considerably again, down to 64 at the end of the year 2007.

The smaller trawlers almost exclusively use bottom trawls, fishing for codfishes and possibly demersal redfishes, and shrimp trawls for northern shrimp. The larger trawlers also use midwater trawls for the pelagic species and a few of the largest ones are also able to use purse seines.

The first stern trawlers were all freshfish trawlers, that is, they iced the catch and had to land it at least every two weeks. The first freezer trawlers began operation in 1982 and this initiated a large change in the trawler fleet. Today the trawler fleet is roughly evenly divided between freshfish and freezer trawlers. Nowadays, the freshfish trawlers rarely stay longer than one week at sea fishing but the freezer trawlers stay at sea until the hold is full, sometimes more than a month. Freezer trawlers are the largest vessels in the Icelandic demersal fisheries and they operate in Icelandic waters and in international areas. Most of them fillet and then freeze the catch aboard. A few, however, do not process the catch but whole-freeze it on board. The home ports of many of the largest trawlers are in the North East and the capital region, while the smaller trawlers have home ports all around Iceland. The number of crew on the trawlers is from 12 on the small trawlers to 24 on the large freezer trawlers.

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson / Hörður Sævaldsson, University of Akureyri