Foreign fleets

The first references to distant water fisheries in Icelandic waters are those of English boats fishing for cod in 1412. They became quite numerous in the 15th century but declined in numbers after that. After the decline of the English Fleet, boats from the Netherlands became the most numerous distant water fleet in Icelandic waters later replaced by French boats from Brittany and Flanders from the early 19th century, until the return of the British fleet. For further information on these early foreign fleets in Icelandic waters see the page on history.

Faroese boats began fishing cod in Icelandic waters in the late 19th century, using similar boats and technology as Icelanders. Since that time Faroese boats have fished extensively in Icelandic waters and are the only distant water country with uninterrupted catch history there for the entire 20th century.

Norwegians have also been important players in Icelandic waters since the 19th century. They were the primary initiatiators of large-scale whaling and herring fisheries in Icelandic waters during that century. They participated quite extensively in the herring fisheries and, to a lesser extent, in the groundfish fishery.

The English returned in the late 19th century with trawlers. English boats once again dominated the distant water fisheries in Icelandic waters in the 20th century, until the extension of the Icelandic EEZ to 200 miles. The main species targeted by the English fishers in the 19th century were flatfish and haddock; initially, large amounts of cod were discarded. Later the cod itself became the target species.

The second most important country participating in the groundfish fishery in Icelandic waters during the 20th century was Germany, mainly West Germany after the Second World War. Their total tonnage was lower than that of the British, and they always fished in deeper waters, catching more saithe and redfish. Boats from Belgium, Denmark, East Germany, Poland, the Soviet Union, Finland, Sweden, Greenland, Japan, and United States also participated at one time or another in the Icelandic fisheries. The target species of these foreign fisheries was diverse. Belgian, Dutch and Scottish boats were fishing groundfish. The Danes were fishing flatfish (although Iceland was under the Danish crown until 1944, Danish boats were never numerous in Icelandic waters). East Germans, Poles and vessels from the Soviet Union were fishing for groundfish, particularly in deep waters, targeting redfish and Greenland halibut. They also participated in the herring fisheries.

Recently, Greenlanders began fishing for capelin and Japanese for bluefin tuna. American boats have not been reported in Icelandic waters this century, but it is perhaps interesting to mention that schooners from Gloucester, Massachusetts, came to fish halibut in Icelandic waters in 1873. This fishery did not prove successful at that particular time; they came back, however, 11 years later and fished extensively in Icelandic waters until 1897. Boats from Portugal, Spain and Italy have also allegedly fished in Icelandic waters, although only small amounts. The fact that the great fishing nations, Spain and Portugal, have not been very active on Icelandic grounds in the 20th century is somewhat surprising.

Iceland emerged as an independent nation after WWII and was determined to reduce foreign fisheries in Icelandic waters. This resulted in the gradual extension of the Icelandic EEZ to 200 miles in 1975 (see the pages on fisheries management). These extensions resulted in conflicts with distant water nations fishing in Icelandic waters, primary Britain and Germany. In the end, Iceland managed to expel the foreign fleets from the 200-mile zone.

The current distant water fleets fishing in Icelandic waters are: Norwegian and Faroese longliners fishing for groundfish; Norwegian, Faroese and Greenlandic purse-seiners fishing for capelin and herring; and Greenlandic and European Union (mainly British and German) trawlers fishing for redfish. Furthermore, Russian and European herring boats and Faroese boats fishing for blue whiting are allowed to fish up to a certain amount in Icelandic waters. The reason for these boats being allowed to fish in the Icelandic EEZ is based on reciprocal fishing rights (groundfish, redfish), shared stocks (capelin, herring, blue whiting and redfish) or, in the case of tuna, because Icelanders do not possess the knowledge to catch this species. Except for the groundfish fisheries, these all occur at the fringes of the Icelandic EEZ; redfish in the southwest, tuna in the south, herring in the east and capelin in the north.

Foreign catches of demersal fishes increased steadily from 132,000 t in 1906 (official statistics are not available earlier) to 343,000 t in 1938. During WWII, foreign catches in Icelandic waters virtually ceased, but increased rapidly after the war to a peak of 505,000 t in 1953. Catches declined slowly afterwards due to overexploitation and the gradual extension of the Icelandic EEZ. Little less than half of the catches or 100,000 to 200,000 t/y were cod. Catches of other species were around 50,000 t/y for haddock, saithe and redfish and 1,000 to 5,000 t for most of the other species.

Another historical distant water fishery conducted in Icelandic waters during the 19^th and 20^th century were the herring fisheries, mainly on the Atlanto-Scandian stock. With two exceptions, the foreign catches of herring were from 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes annually for this entire period. In the 1930´s the catches increased slowly to 57,000 t in 1937 and then declined and finally stopped due to WWII. The other episode happened after 1958 when catches increased again, now to the maximum of 172,000 t in 1962 and then declined again and finally stopped entirely when the stock collapsed in 1968. Since that time, there have been no herring fisheries in Icelandic waters except those conducted by Icelanders themselves.

Hreiðar Þór Valtýsson, University of Akureyri