Sailing vessels and urbanization

Almost all authors writing about the reorganization and revival of Iceland´s economy in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries recommended two things: the operation of decked sailing vessels in the fisheries and the founding of towns. Their idea was that the towns should be built at places with good natural harbours, close to prolific fishing grounds and, if possible, in populous areas or close to these. In that way they would serve as trading and service centers for merchants and neighbouring farmers as well as fishing ports. The most farsighted of these authors saw these towns as future centers and bulwarks of urbanization as well as the homesteads of merchants, artisans, fishermen and fish-workers alike. In that way they would play a steadily increasing role as urban service centers in their respective regions.

These ideas were gradually realized during the nineteenth century. The rowing boats were most economically operated out of landing places as close to the fishing grounds as possible. In their case the distance to the fishing areas was crucial and everything possible was done to shorten the time of rowing. When the boats returned from a fishing trip they were hauled or carried ashore and as many of the fishermen stayed only temporarily at the fishing stations permanent villages were rarely formed. Moreover, the daily catch of each rowing boat was rather small and usually each crew took care of their catch, which until the late eighteenth century meant gutting and drying the fish. Consequently, no big workforce was needed on shore.

The requirements of the decked sailing vessels were quite different. They were too big and heavy to be taken ashore between fishing trips. They required harbours, they stayed out fishing for much longer periods than the motorboats, normally 2-3 weeks each time, and they had much bigger crews, up to twenty men. After 1870 and onwards they were increasingly diverted from shark to cod fishing (with handlines) and at that time the production of salted cod had mostly replaced the ancient method of drying. This required a considerable land-based workforce to take care of the catch and offered new opportunities of work in places where the fish was landed. Furthermore, the decked vessels required various services, such as sail- and ropemaking etc.

Outside the Eyjafjörður region most decked sailing vessels were owned and operated by merchants. Most of them lived at trading places that could offer the facilities necessary for the operation of decked sailing vessels. Soon after the vessels came into operation these places began to attract people eager to move from the countryside to the coast in search of work and more personal freedom. The result was that during the latter half of the nineteenth century coastal towns began to take shape and some grew quite rapidly. The two most obvious examples were Ísafjörður and Reykjavík. Ísafjörður can be considered as the “capital” of decked sailing vessels´ operation in Iceland during the period from around 1840 until it was surpassed by Reykjavík in the 1890´s. Ísafjörður grew from 76 inhabitants in 1850 to 830 in 1890 and to 1.085 in 1901. Reykjavík was more of a latecomer in the operation of decked sailing vessels. Their operation in the town did not start until just before 1870 but during the 1880´s, and especially the 1890´s, the town´s fleet grew at a rapid pace, and so did the population. Being the country´s administration center Reykjavík was, however, not purely a fishing town.

Reykjavík and Ísafjörður were the outstanding examples of the importance of decked sailing vessels for early urbanization in Iceland. No less important was, however, that as the towns grew, capital and know-how began to accumulate which laid the foundations for the next big step forward in Icelandic fisheries: the motorization of the fishing fleet.