Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.07.1989, Page 6

Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.07.1989, Page 6
6-FOSTUDAGUR 7. JULI 1989 Icelandic fishing as depicted on stamps Some of the stamps depicting Icelandic Fishery. by Jón Aðalsteinn Jónsson When the first Scandinavians set foot on Icelandic soil at thé start of the settlement in the 9th century, they doubtless must have started searching for food in the lakes and sea, in the same way that they were used to doing on their own home ter- ritory. And indeed, ancient docu- ments inform us that both farm products and fish drawn from the sea have been providing the common people of Iceland with their staple diet right from the time of the settle- ment up until the present day. Off- shore fishing is also mentioned in old manuscripts from the time of the set- tlement onwards, something that comes as no surprise since Iceland is surrounded by some of the richest fishing grounds in the world. The actual fishing techniques em- ployed by the Icelanders appear to have changed little from the earliest times up until this century, and for many years, fishing was effectively practiced alongside farming. Men would row out to sea either in small boats, manned by between one and four men, or in larger vessels which took as many as twelve oarsmen. Usually, fishing would commence early in the morning, the boats returning to land on the evening of the same day. After each day's fishing, the boats would be drawn up upon dry land. Nothing was uded but hook-and-line. Naturally, one could only row out in good weather and on a calm sea, and in some places, on the south coast for example, harbours were few and far between — if they existed at all. In cases like the latter, the fisher- men would be forced to row straight out to sea, directly off the beach, and even then, they would sometimes have a great distance to row before they reached the fishing grounds. Often, too, the weather would change during the period of the fish- ing trip, and sometimes the fisher- men would find it extremely difficult, if not totally impossible to make a safe landing on shore. Numerous tragic accidents often occurred for this very reason, as farmers and farmhands attempted to risk a lánd- ing amidst the breakers on the shore- line right in front of their own home- steads. The boats would all too often capsize, resulting in the loss of entire crews. The Icelandic postal authorities have commemorated this important branch of the Icelandic economy on a number of stamps from 1925 on- wards. In 1925, two stamps were is- sued, a 7 aurar and a 50 aurar, depict- ing the same subject in which a boat is being landed amidst surf on the south coast of Iceland, men on the shoreline offering their assistance. This picture is symbolic of the ap- proach described above, which was known right from the time of the earliest settlement in Iceland, and continued far into this century. It even occurs to this very day. Early in the middle ages, a number of small fishing villages came into be- ing at the sites where men rowed out to fish, and from these places, the ex- portation of what is known as skreið was taken up, skreið being a kind of dried, pressed fish which was much in demand amongst foreign traders, especially those from England and Germany. The next step was that, in the period around 1400, the afore- mentioned nations themselves, ac- companied by the Dutch, began to practice fishing off Iceland. The larg- est fishing village at this time was off the south coast of Iceland in the Westmann Islands. One can see the harbour there on three stamps, the 5 and 90 aurar, and the 2 krónur, which were issued as part of a series in 1950. In the 18th, and especially in the 19th centuries, enterprising Ice- landers began outfitting larger decked boats for the purpose of off- shore fishing. This brought a new class of shipowners into being, a class which has had a very important role to play in Iceland over the past one hundred years or so, especially in terms of providing work. Round about the turn of the centu- ry, there was a radical change in the fishing techniques of the Icelanders, as larger and stronger vessels came to be added to the fishing fleet. First came fishing smacks, and then, a little later, trawlers. An Icelandic trawler can be seen on four stamps in a ser- ies that was issued between 1950 and 1954, the 10 and 25 aurar, the 1.25 kr. and the 1.50 kr. The coastline of Iceland, especial- ly that of the south, has often proved highly dangerous for seamen, and not least for those foreign seamen who didn't take enough care with the shal- low, sandy waters of the coast in their hunt for the cod. Boats would often end up on those terrible sands of the south coast, and particularly those of the French seamen who on a number of occasions sacrificed both their boats and their lives in the per- iod around the turn of the last cen- tury. As is well known, the French in their fishing smacks were frequent visitors to the Icelandic fishing grounds at that time. Naturally, at- tempts were made to rescue those seamen who found themselves in peril off the wave-lashed coasts of Iceland, and many famous stories tell of men being rescued from the dead- Join The Club rHaroldfs\ Complete Unisex Beauty Services 1065 Ellice at Wall Street Telephone 775-8557 ly grip of the sea. Unfortunately, though, a great many met their deaths along these coasts. Sea rescue operations are depicted on a 10 aurar and 35 aurar stamps of a Charity Issue from 1933, and also on a 75 aurar stamp from 1949. One of the clearest examples can be found on the 60 kr. stamp which was issued to commemorate the 50th anniver- sary of the National Life Saving Asso- Continued on Page 7 SICMAR MORTGAGE SERVICES LTD. SICMAR COMMERCIAL REALTY LTD. SICMAR MANACEMENT SERVICES L TD. Murray Sigmar President S40-NUMBER FIVE DONALD ST S WINNIPEC. MANITOBA R3L 2T4 TELEPHONE: (204) 284-3120 EAX: 453-4032 TAYLOR McCAFFREY CHAPMAN Telecopier (204) 957-0945 Barristers & Solicitors Winnipeg phone 949-1312 9th Floor - 400 St. Mary Ave. Gimli phone 642-7955 Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 4K5 Winnipeg Beach phone 389-2999 Mr. David King attends in Gimli and Riverton on the first and third Friday of each month and Mr. Tim Taylor in Winnipeg Beach in the afternoon on the second and fourth Friday of each month. Office hours are held in Gimli at 3rd Avenue and Centre Street between the hours of 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon and 4 - 5 p.m. In Riverton, Mr. King attends at the Riverton Village office between the hours of 1:30 and 3 p.m. Office hours are held at Winnipeg Beach between 2 and 4 p.m. in the Winnipeg Beach office of Gimli Credit Union.

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