Saga - 1987, Page 195

SAMVINNUFÉLAG ÍSFIRÐINGA
193
Lög Samvinnufélags ísfirðinga og reglugerðir. Rv. 1930.
Lög Samvinnufélags ísfirðinga og reglugerðir. ísafirði 1938.
Sigfús Jónsson: Sjávarútvegur íslendinga á tuttugustu öld. Rv. 1984.
Sjómannablaðið Víkingur, júlí 1940.
Skúli Þórðarson: „Alþýðusambandið fimmtugt". Vinnan 1966. Rv. 1966. Bls. 16-31.
Skulull, Isafirði 1923-30.
Vesturland, ísafirði 1926-30.
VUgir, rit Fiskifélags íslands, júlí-ágúst 1951.
Aðrar heimildir
Skjöl frá Samvinnufélagi ísfirðinga, nú til geymslu á Handritadeild Landsbókasafns:
Fundagjörðabók 1927-37.
Skýrsla um skipakaupin fyrir Samvinnufélagsmenn.
Skýrslur um störf Samvinnufélags ísfirðinga 1929-48.
10 ára starfsemi Samvinnufélags Isfirðinga 1928-38.
Fundagerðarbók Samvinnufélags ísfirðinga 1937-61.
Summary
The ísafjörður Co-operative Society was founded 22 December 1927, the first
fishing co-operative to be established in Iceland. The founding members
were fishermen and labourers in ísafjörður, under the leadership of the so-
cialdemocrats who were then in majority on the town council.
The Co-operative had five motor boats built in Norway in 1928 which ar-
rived in Isafjörður at the end of that year. The year after a further two boats
were added to the society's fleet. The boats were 40-45 gross register tonnes
and were considered most impressive. From the outset the society was at the
centre of a number of disagreements between conservatives and social
democrats regarding the organisation and management of the local fishing
industry.
During the teens and 20s an active motorised fishing fleet had put out from
ísafjörður, but fluctuations in the price of salted herring and cod had seri-
°usly undermined the industry, and by 1927 all the major shipowners were
uear bankruptcy, and were forced to sell their boats or lost them at auction.
Members of the Social Democratic Party were critical of the way fishing had
been organised and blamed waste and bad planning for the situation. The
shipowners, on the other hand, maintained that the social democrats had
iimited their possibilities to such an extent that they no longer were able to
survive. They challenged the social democratic leaders to show what they
could do to save the working people of ísafjörður from unemployment. The
answer was the ísafjörður Co-operative Society.
The Co-operative got financial support from the local council and the
labour unions in Isafjörður, who were under the leadership of the social
democrats. Vital however to the Co-operative Society was the support of the
uiinority government of Framsóknarflokkurinn (the Progressive Party),
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