Herring bonanza and failure

Sources indicate that the Icelanders did not fish for herring in olden times, except perhaps on a very small scale. Herring fisheries off Iceland began in earnest around 1880 when Norwegian fishermen established themselves in the East Fjords and a little later also in North Iceland, especially in the Eyjafjörður region. The Icelanders were quick to learn the Norwegians´ fishing technique, which was based on the use of seine nets that were laid out in fjords, only a short distance from the shore. In Iceland interest in herring fishing was greatest in Eyjafjörður and here the management of the Gránufélag took the lead. In 1880 and 1881 the company’s manager, Tryggvi Gunnarsson, and Snorri Pálsson, manager of the company’s store in Siglufjörður, undertook herring fishing and salting in Siglufjörður. This was probably the first wholly Icelandic company to catch and salt herring and to export Icelandic herring (from Siglufjörður in 1881).

In 1894 the use of gill-nets was introduced, but the real breakthrough in the herring fisheries came in the early 20^th century with the introduction of purse-seine and drift nets, which were much more effective than older techniques. Moreover, the Icelanders began to use steam-powered vessels and motor-boats in the fisheries in the early 20^th century and in due course steam-trawlers also began to participate in the herring fisheries which took place off the north and northwest coasts during summer, which was the period of the year when the trawlers did not fish much demersal fish.

From 1906 to 1939 the herring catch never failed; the herring migrated to the grounds off the north coast every year. As herring was caught out at sea, it was important that the fishing and processing centres be relatively far out, as close to the fishing grounds as possible, in order to reduce the distance from fishing ground to landing place. Herring is a delicate product that begins to decay rapidly and as the salting process was labour-intensive and well paid, people flocked to the salting places in order to earn money. In north Iceland “herring towns” and villages emerged and in the West Fjords the herring fishery was a huge boost – as herring were caught when the cod fishery was at a low point. Siglufjörður is the prime example of how the herring fishery affected urban development in Iceland. It was close to the main fishing ground, had an excellent natural harbour and here a tiny village grew into a town of some two thousand inhabitants in only some two decades.

Most herring was salted using white salt, although spice-salting was increasing. Markets for salted herring were primarily in the Baltic and most of the herring exported from Iceland went to Copenhagen and was then sold on to the consuming countries. Much of it went to Sweden, the Baltic countries and the Soviet Union. Herring was also reduced to produce herring meal and herring oil. The first herring plants were built in 1911 and grew rapidly in numbers in the next two or three decades.

During the first fifteen years after the Second World War herring fisheries were slack, but a new boom started in the early 1960s. This lasted until 1968 when the herring stocks collapsed and until the 1990´s there was very little herring fishery off Iceland. Then the herring fleet turned to capelin fishing. The capelin was often caught in huge numbers during winter and most of it was reduced in the herring plants, although a part of the catch was frozen for export, mainly to Japan.

Jón Þ. Þór - University of Akureyri