Shark and cod fisheries

Pioneering period

During the pioneering period, sailing vessels were confined to the south and west, mostly owned by merchants. Farmers too began to operate sailing vessels at the southern part of Faxaflói Bay in the early 19^th century, but always on a small scale. Throughout the age of sail, merchants were the major operators of sailing vessels in the region from Faxaflói Bay in the southwest to Ísafjörður in the West Fjords, and the business of various big trading companies at the time was largely based on profits from the fisheries. Until about 1830 the ships fished for both cod and shark, but at that time shark-fishing became more profitable and thus grew to be the basis for sailing vessel operation for the next four or five decades. This was largely due to an increasing demand from foreign markets for shark-liver oil as lamp oil, especially for street lights. Nevertheless, the vessels in the south, as well as those in the West Fjords, always caught some cod and other demersal species along with the shark.

Shark-fishing period

About 1850, fishing from decked sailing vessels was introduced in northern Iceland, especially in Eyjafjörður. This fishery differed in various ways from the operation of such vessels in the south and west. Until about 1880, the sailing vessels in north Iceland were almost exclusively owned and operated by farmers and they concentrated on shark-fishing.

The shark fishery played a vital role in Icelandic fisheries´ and economic history of the 19^th century, and it can be maintained that shark is the fish species whose importance has been most consistently underestimated by historians. During the four decades, from 1830 until about 1870, the price of shark-liver oil rose steadily, while the shark-fishing operation was relatively simple, with small operational costs. The cost of rendering the oil was small, and its production and sale entailed little risk for vessel-owners. Merchants were responsible for sales, and most appear to have turned a good profit as prices continued to rise. All this contributed to enabling farmers, and smaller merchants, to establish themselves with sailing vessels for the shark fishery.

The shark fishery was thus financially manageable and well-suited to a poor society where few people had the resources to participate in fishing-vessel operation and production on a large scale. But many succeeded in establishing themselves in the business in a relatively short time. Overall, the shark-fishing period may be termed as the first of the “bonanzas” experienced in the Icelandic fisheries in recent times. It provided the Icelandic economy with the necessary momentum for its first “take-off”. Here it was perhaps most important that the good returns of the shark fisheries enabled people, farmers and merchants alike, to acquire a considerable fleet of decked sailing vessels within a relatively short period of time. When the demand for shark-liver oil began to diminish the ships were there and could be diverted to other activities.

Cod-fishing period

The cod-fishing phase of the age of sail lasted from about 1880 until the First World War. At this time, the ships were mainly catching cod on handlines, and the bulk of the catch was salted. Salting was labour-intensive, and thus the sailing ship fishery was conducive to the development of towns and villages, for example Reykjavík and Ísafjörður.

The number of sailing vessels in Iceland peaked in 1906. After that their numbers dropped rapidly and many were sold to the Faroe Islands as Icelandic fishing vessels operators renewed their fleet with motor-boats and modern steam-trawlers.

Jón Þ. Þór - University of Akureyri