Lögberg-Heimskringla - 06.09.1996, Page 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 6, september 1996
Seal meat on Saturdays continued
Continued from page 7.
colonies,” said Eysteinn.
At last action was taken to destroy
the predators and the biids have been
multiplying ever since. Jóhannes
points out that although there has
never been as much done to protect
the birds and the nesting areas as now,
there is still much in human work
habits and technology which threatens
the bird life.
Mink have arrived on the Westem
Islands, but Skáleyjar has mostly been
fiee of mink and fox in the last years.
Eysteinn said that mink tracks had
been found at Skáleyjar in the fall of
1995. No animals have been found in
spite of much effort spent searching
for them and the hope is that they
went back the same way they arrived.
In former times foxes often arrived on
ice and their tracks have been found
twice on the islands since 1977.
Eysteinn beheves that with year-round
residency they can be kept off the is-
lands.
At times, eagles play tricks on
the island farmers. They attack
the bird colonies and, along
with other birds which come with
them, can do much damage. The cU-
mate is also a factor, as can be seen by
comparing the eider colony this year
to last year. “When the weather was
severe the year before we often
thought about the birds, how they
were faring, and in the spring fewer
showed up in the nesting areas and
they were in
poor condition.
It was quite dif-
ferent this
spring. The
birds were Uve-
lier and there
were many
more of them
all over the is-
lands,” said
Eysteinn.
“Down gath-
ering is time
consuming
work. The birds
nest all over the
islands and
every islet, slab
and skerry has
to be searched
twice during the
short time we
have in spring.”
Many hands are
needed for this
work and Eysteinn estimates that it in-
volves about 60 work days. He said
that family members come to assist in
the spring work. Children and young
people also come to work and stay
here in summers and Eysteinn said
that they can take full part in the work
— which he considers enjoyable and
educating.
Although the down is the main
source of income for the island farm-
ers, there are great fluctuations in de-
mand and price and it does not bring
instant wealth. Right now price and
sale are good after a number of poor
years and
Eysteinn is op-
timistic about
the future if the
price stabilizes.
The animal hus-
bandry at Ská-
leyjar includes
over one hun-
dred sheep, two
milking cows
and some feed
cattle. Jóhannes
said that the an-
imal husbandry
and resource
farming go weU
together. “Grass
grows well on
the islands. The
grazing im-
proves the land
both for man
and birds; it be-
comes much
more inhabit-
able for the eider birds,” said
Jóhannes.
Sheep farming on Skáleyjar is done
somewhat differently than other
places in Iceland. There is limited land
for haying, but grazing land is good,
and the sheep can graze much of the
year. Jóhannes only fed the sheep in
sheds from the end of February last
year. The time the sheep are fed that
way is only half of what it is on the
mainland. Transporting the sheep by
boats to the mainland is another dif-
ference.
The Skáleyjar farmers have grazing
land at Fjarðarhom in KoUaijord. The
sheep are taken there in spring and
brought back again in the fall.
Jóhannes said that round-up and trans-
portation are not a problem. The fírst
round-up is done on a weekend with
school chUdren and other people help-
ing. The follow-up search involves
less work and extra help is not needed.
In the past the island sheep were in
exceptionally good condition. The
slaughterhouse at Flatey had the
heaviest slaughter lambs anywhere in
the country. The lambing season
began earlier and the sheep were taken
to the grazing areas before the egg and
down-gathering work began. In the
faU there was good faU grazing in the
islands. But this was before fat meat
was frowned upon and now the lambs
are taken directly to the slaughter-
houses from the grazing areas. Today
some of the sheep are kept on the is-
lands through summer and slaughtered
in August.
After the sheep are moved to their
grazing land and the first round of
down gathered is done, the seal hunt-
ing begins. The land seals give birth to
their young in the spring at their Utter-
ing places at Skáleyjar. The cubs are
caught in nets laid out for them all
around the home island and this has
been done as long as people can re-
member.
The spring cub skins used to be
valuable for export. A seal cub was
worth about the same as a lamb, with
much less cost.
Continued next week.
S
Selkjöt A Laugardögum
skyldan
Harvesting seaweed provides another
souree of income.
Kópur í Feigðarskörslögninni. Friðþjófur Helgi Gunnlagusson, upprennandi
selbátastýrimaður, aðsstoðar Eysteinn Gíslason við að taka kópinn um bord.
Continued from page 8
að það haldist ef menn stUU sig um að
spenna verðið of mikið upp.
Til svokallaðs grasnytjabúskapar í
Skáleyjum teljast nokkuð á annað
hundrað ær, tvær mjólkandi kýr, naut
og nokkrir nautgripir sem aldir eru til
kjötframleiðslu. Jóhannes segir að
skepnuhaldið og hlunnindanýtingin
fari mjög vel saman. “Það er geysUega
mikil gróðurgróska í eyjunum. Beit
bætir land, bæði fyrir menn og fugla,
það verður mUdu vistlegra lyrir æðar-
varp, segir Jóhannes.
Hann segir að kollumar styggist
vissulega ofurlítið af umgengni kinda
um varpland. Telur hann þó að hæfi-
leg umgengni geri ekkert til en tekur
fram að um þetta séu skiptar skoðanir.
Sauðfjárbúskapurinn í Skáleyjum
er ólíkur því sem þekkist víðast
hvar á fastalandinu. Heyöflunar-
möguleikar eru takmarkaðir en góð
beit þannig að fénu er beitt fram eftir
vetri. Jóhannes tók meginhlutann á
hús í lok febrúar í vetur. Gjafatíminn
er allt að helmingi styttri en í landi. Þá
er flutningurinn í land mjög sénstæður.
Skáleyingar hafa upprekstrarland í
Fjarðarhomi í Kollafirði. Þangað er
féð flutt á bátum á vorin og aftur heim
á haustin. Jóhannes segir að ekki séu
nein vandræði með smalamennsku og
að flytja féð á milli. “Fyrri leit er um
helgi og fólk kemur til þátttöku úr
skólum og vinnu. Svona
mannkvaðning úr fjarska hefur ekki
verið notuð til seinni leitar, enda
minna um að vera,” segir hann.
Sú var tíð að fé í eyjum var ákafle-
ga vænt. Sláturhúsið í Flatey var með
mesta meðalfallþunga dilka á öllu
landinu. “Þetta byggðist auðvitað á
því að eyjaféð var látið bera tiítölulega
snemma svo hægt væri að losna við
það í land fyrir varp. Féð var allt flutt
heim að hausti og góð haustbeit fyrir
lömbin sem urðu auðvitað mjög væn.
En þetta var áður en menn
skömmuðust sín fyrir vænt fé,” segir
Jóhannes. Nú eru lömbin flutt beint úr
sumarhögunum í sláturhúsið í Króksf-
jarðamesi.
Jóhannes hefur tekið þátt í því að
lengja sláturtímann í Króksfjarðar-
nesi tvö undanfarin ár. Lætur hann
hluta kindanna bera snemma á vorin
og fær beit fyrir þær í öðmm eyjum
um sumarið. Þannig getur hann haldið
sér því fé sem slátra á í byrjun ágúst.
Þetta bætir markaðinn og ég tel skyn-
samlegt að vinna svona fyrir
framtíðina.”
Þegar búið er að flytja féð í land og
fyrri dúnleit lokið er komið að
selveiðinni. Landselur kæpir á vorin í
selalátrum víða í Skáleyjum. Kópamir
eru veiddir í net sem lögð eru í
ákveðnar lagnir allt í kringum
heimaeyna og hefur svo verið gert
eins lengi og elstu menn muna.
Vorkópaskinnin voru mjög
verðmæt útflutningsvara. Til
viðmiðunar var haft að kópurinn gæfi
af sér eins mikinn arð og lainb en mun
minna haft fyrir veiðinni en sauðfjár-
búskapnum.
Continued next week.