Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.10.1973, Síða 3

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 18. OKTÓBER 1973
3
Two Points of
View
Framhald ai bls. 2.
on owes its wealth to the
harvesting of the cod-rich
waters just outside of Boston
harbor. Indiscriminate fish-
ing has so depleted these
banks that now it is scarcely
worth whi’le for a skipper to
take his boat out. Certainly,
he has no change even with
modern sophisticated equip-
ment of pulling in a catch in
a full day such as his grand-
father og great-grandfather
gleaned in only a few
hours. We might also re-
member that Moterey Bay in
California formerly produc-
ed such numbers of sardines
that small boats would put
out from land and return in
only a few hours laden to
the gunwales with this „silv
er of the sea.“ — Sometimes
they were so loaded that
they were in danger of sink-
ing before they made shore.
All during the ,forties the
oanneries on Cannery Row
— made famous by Stein-
beck in several of his novells
— worked full shifts, some-
times day after day around
the clock processing the
catch. Tremendous fortunes
were made, but then the
time came when more and
more effort was necessary to
catch fewer and fewer fish.
By 1949 the canning industry
was almost dead. In 1950 the
pilchards reappeared and for
one fishing season things
were aimost back to normal.
Then in 1951 the sardines
failed to appear, nor have
they come back since. What
activity there is on Cannery
Row today is due to the tour-
ists who frequent the curio
shops, there is not a single
fish processing plant in oper-
ation where once there were
several. — Many a once-
wealthy Monterey family
has dissipated its wealth
waiting for the sardine to re-
turn and is now in want be-
cause no one would believe
that the sardines could dis-
appear so completely and so
finally.
What happened to the cod
off the shores of Massachus-
etts, and the sardines in Mon
terey Bay, and the herring in
Ideland, now seeims to be
threatening the cod, the
haddock, and the catelin off
the southem coasts of Ice-
land. During the last few
years ever increasing effort
has been necessary to net
ever fewer fish. The age of
the fish caught has also been
decreasing sharply. To the
average person this may
seem of little significance
until he realizes that fish re-
produce at different ages
depending on the species but
in the case of the cod the
•
break-even point is about
ten years. In other words a
cod less than ten years old
has probably spawned only
oncfe or twice if at all. If too
many codfish of five, six, or
seven years of age are taken,
the species — at least in that
particular locale — may well
be in danger. This is precis-
ely what is happening. Pract
ically all cod caught during
the last two years have been
less than 10 years old. — In
1971 the per centage of cod
caught over 10 years old was
2 per cent- On page 6 of The
Ailaniic and Iceland Review
Supplemeni, No 1, 1973, a
remarkable article and graph
appeared which illustrate
this very p>oint. For the con-
venience of those who do
not subscribe to this inform-
ative and interesting period-
ical, the graph and article
are reproduced below:
samewhat of an inconveni-
ence to freign fishing vesselS
including those of Great
Britain, but what is merely
an inconvenience to a hand-
ful of British fishermen
means national survival to
208,000 Icelanders. Actually,
Iceland has not said that no
fishing many be allowed
within the fifty mile limit,
she has said that it must be
regulated and 'that she
should have the right to do
the regulating.
If other nations will agree
to this, and Iceland is trying
desperately to get them to
do so, it is expected that the-
traditionally rich fishing
grounds can be preserved
indefinite'ly. If, on the other
hand, the rapacious and in-
discriminate procedures
that haye characterized the
fishing of the last decade or
two are continued, the catc-
High Mortality Rate
of Cod Stock
Scientists at Reykjavík’s Marine Institute have published
alarming statistics over the mortality rate of cod around
Iceland. The figures, which are based on yearly sampl-
ings, shows a difinite fluctuation over the years, and in
addition show that the stock has never been as low as it
is at present.
If a safe level for cod reproduction can be maintained
by a moderate proportion of mature — i.e. ten-year old
cod — then this level has dropped drastically over the last
few years. In the graph reproduced below, the figures are
for the proportion of 10-year old cod found in the Ice-
landic catch. The “safe“ level indicated is for a 25% pro-
portion of such fish which could hopefuly spawn to main-
tain the stock.
If we can assume that the
scientists at Reykjavik’s
Marine Institute have inter-
preted their facts correctly
— and this writer knows of
no reason to believe other-
wise — the codfish off the
southem coast of Iceland are
even now in grave danger.
It may already be too late.
At least, it would be most
foolish to ignore the wam-
ing signals. It has happened
before that species of fish or
animals have been overhunt-
ed or overfished by greedy
men. The reason for Ice-
land’s insistance that she
must control fishing out to
the edge of the continental
shelf (approximately fifty
miles) is now clear. If she
does not impose these restric
tions, the species is in danger
of dying out because of over
fishing. — She realizes, of
course, that observing the
fifty mile limit will pose
hes will continue to dirnin-
ish until it will not be worth
the trouble to send out fish-
ingboats, when that time com
es — and it could easily happ
en within only a year or
two — Iceland will be faced
with economic collapse. In
over 20 years the sardines
have not retumed to Monter
ey, how long will it take the
cod to come back to Icelandic
waters once they are fished
out?
íslenzk frímerki
og jólamerki í miklu úrvali.
Skrifið og leitið
upplýsinga hjá
S. Björnsson.
Box 17, Kópavogi, Iceland
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