Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 01.01.2011, Page 94

MEINSEMDIR OG MANNDRÁPSBOLLAR 93
er ljóst að fiskveiðar á seglskipum hafa að mestu verið stundaðar af ungum
mönnum. Það er jafnframt mælikvarði á hve slítandi starfið hefur verið, en
f lestir hættu upp úr þrítugu og fáir voru eldri en 45 ára.
Flestir nýliðar jöfnuðu sig á sjóveiki á nokkrum dögum þótt sumir væru
illa haldnir mun lengur, jafnvel svo vikum skipti. Lækning við sjóveiki
þekktist ekki en eitt helsta ráðið gegn henni var að fara upp á dekk og vinna.
Stýrimannaskólinn hóf kennslu í skyndihjálp og umönnun sjúkra veturinn
1912-1913 en sundkennslu var ekki til að dreifa fyrr en löngu síðar og voru
skútusjómenn því upp til hópa ósyndir. Sjóslys voru gríðarleg, bæði skiptapar og
einnig tók menn fyrir borð og drukknuðu. Ástæður þessa voru margvíslegar,
sérstaklega vond veður, illa útbúin skip, ófullnægjandi skipaskoðun og skortur
á eiginlegum slysavörnum. Hugsanlega hefur áhættusöm hegðun, sem er vel
þekkt meðal sjómanna, ýtt undir óvarkárni og stuðlað þannig að auknum
slysum. Skipverjar sem veiktust eða slösuðust um borð áttu rétt á ókeypis
hjúkrunarþjónustu í fjórar vikur frá 1890 og ennfremur líftryggingu frá 1904,
hinni fyrstu sinnar tegundar hér á landi, og síðar einnig örorkubótum.
Summary
The state of health of fishermen on cutters, their loss of life and work related
accidents are the subject of this article. Fishing on these ships started in a small
way in 1800 but grew in the second half of the century. The ships were most
numerous between 1897 and 1912 but they became fewer with the introduction
of motorized boats and steam powered trawlers and had disappeared in 1927.
The cutters almost only caught cod with hand lines but up to the end of the
19th century many such vessels caught shark. The fishing season was from
February to September, a little variable in parts of the country and because of
the size of the vessels.
A working day of 24 hours was divided into five shifts but work on board
of them almost exclusively consisted of standing on deck seven days a week,
catching fish and dressing the catch. Standing upright meant a great burden
on the feet and the lower back, partly because of the inclination of the vessels.
There was great competition to be the best catcher which meant that some
fishermen stayed awake for a very long time. The underlying reason was a system
of paying according to performance. Many things indicate that the fishermen
slept extremely little even though fishing sometimes was limited by bad
weather. These conditions had a negative effect on the fishermen‘s health, they
contributed to stress, tiredness, certain psychological difficulties and increased
risk of abuse of alcohol. Annoyance and overcrowding in living quarters, bad