Wartime boom and renovation

The Second World War was a period of “bonanza” in the Icelandic fisheries. Every fish caught and landed sold at a good price abroad and to further improve things, the fishing was generally excellent. After the war, the Icelanders had more money in foreign banks than ever before and as the fishing fleet which had brought the new wealth from the sea was old and worn-out, it was decided to start an ambitious programme of renovation. During the first seven years after the war the Icelandic fishing fleet – motor-boats as well as trawlers – was completely renovated and by about 1950 Iceland had one of the most modern fishing fleets in the whole world. During the 1950´s gradual renovation of the motor-boat fleet was started again, building bigger boats better suited to herring fisheries, and in 1955 the first fishing boat made of steel arrived. Renovation of the motor-boat fleet continued, new, bigger and better equipped boats were acquired almost every year and in the latter half of the 20^th century most Icelanders were reluctant to speak of motor-“boats” as many of these new vessels were 100-300 tons in size. Vessels built during the very last decades of the century were even bigger.

The new trawlers acquired after the war were sidewinders, most of them 500-600 tons. They were sold to fishing places all around the country, but gradually the smaller places fell out and by 1960 trawler operations were confined to Reykjavík, Hafnarfjörður and Akureyri; only a handful of trawlers were operated out of other ports. The 1950´s were the heyday of the sidewinders´ operation. They were 45 in 1960 but after that their numbers dropped, until the operation of these vessels ceased altogether in 1978. By about 1970 a new renovation process started as the sidewinders were replaced by new, modern stern-trawlers. These arrived in large numbers during the 1970´s and 1980´s, and at the end of the 20^th century most Icelandic trawlers were actually factory vessels, where the catch is processed at sea and delivered in port ready for export. Some of these vessels are up to 2,000 tons in size, some even bigger.

The operation of the trawler fleet after the Second World War had its ups and downs. The period 1946-1960 was characterized by rapid growth, followed by stability, but after 1960 catches began to decline and markets for fish were unstable. After 1970 fears of depletion of the fish stocks in home grounds increased and the economic environment was far from favourable. In the late 1980´s a catch-quota system was introduced which led to a contraction in the fisheries and a reduced number of fishing companies.

The renovation of the fishing fleet was accompanied by expansion and modernization in fish processing. The older methods of drying and salting fish were to a large extent superseded by quick-freezing, and modern freezing plants were built in most fishing ports. Until the 1980´s freezing was the predominant method in the production of demersal fish but during the last two decades this was gradually superseded by icing and more and more of the products was iced and exported “fresh” in containers, either by sea or air. This was economically favourable for the fishing industry, but inevitably resulted in lesser demand for work at the fishing stations, since this method was not as labour-demanding and many freezing plants gradually closed down.

Jón Þ. Þór - University of Akureyri