Saga - 1987, Side 196

194
SIGURÐUR PÉTURSSON
which decided to grant state guarantee for the loans the Co-operative took to
buy its ships. Alþýðuflokkurinn (The Social Democrats) granted the minor-
ity government a state of nonopposition in the Alþingi 1927-1930.
The Co-operative was organised in such a way that an individual company
ran each ship; the captain, crew-members and various outsiders owning
shares in the company. The Co-operative was in charge of the outfitting and
the processing of the catch. Membership in the Co-operative was open to
everyone, both those who worked for it and others. The profits were divided
between shareholders and a fixed part of wages and business proceeds
(1-3%) was put away into two funds, a foundation fund and a reserve fund.
The boats fished for cod in autumn and winter and for herring in summer.
The Co-operative salted fish in ísafjörður, ran a fish-oil plant and a freezer
plant for freezing bait. It also ran herring salting plants in Skagaströnd and
Siglufjörður.
The Co-operative ran successfully the first year but in 1930 the price of
salted fish fell greatly. The Great Depression had its effect on the Co-opera-
tive: on top of falling prices it became increasingly difficult to sell the prod-
ucts and the Co-operative ran at a great deficit. The greatest losses were in-
curred by the cod fisheries but the salt fish and the herring industries ran
reasonably well. This led to a change in the organisation of the Co-operative,
whereby it became a direct owner of the boats. A workers' and fishermen's
council was set up as an advisory board to the directors of the Co-operative.
The Depression caused the Co-operative great difficulties and by 1934 its
debts far outweighed its assets. New debt-reassessment laws enacted by the
government to relieve the grim state of the country's fisheries enabled the
Co-operative to continue business for a few years. The outbreak of World
War II in the autumn of 1939 saw a sharp rise in fish prices on the British
market. All fish was now exported iced on board special freighters or traw-
lers. The Co-operative prospered greatly during the first years of the war,
but its fleet was aging rapidly and repairs were costly. When the herring fish-
ing failed after 1943 the fortunes of the Co-operative declined again.
The ísafjörður Co-operative Society had been formed by workers and
fishermen in ísafjörður who saw this as the best way to avoid unemploy-
ment and to build up anew a fishing industry in the town after the problems
it had faced in this area. It was in its time by far the biggest fishing company
in the town of ísafjörður. It proved unable to adjust to changing conditions,
and came to an end in the 1950s. New men took the lead in fisheries in ísa-
fjörður.
Translated by Ragnheiður Mósesdóttir and Matthew James Driscoll