306 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [6] 



not very popalav in Iceland, as peoi)le have an idea that the; whales 

 chase the lish from the open sea towards the coast, and thus benetit 

 the iisheries. The objection might be advanced to this theory that in 

 ])oor years for fisheries the whales must be idle. It seems that the 

 Icelanders cannot understand why foreigners should reap the benefit 

 of the fisheries in these waters ; and the idea seems to i)revail that the 

 whale fisheries contribute their share towards chasing the fish from the 

 coast and driving them far out to sea. I think that in this respect the 

 Icelanders are very much mistaken. What does the catching of 25 

 whales during a period of six months amount to ? That would be about 

 one whafe per week. I cannot imagine that, if in the little Kallundborg 

 fiord (in Denmark) a whale was killed every week, the lish would be 

 chased away thereby. 



The halibut fisheries are principally of importance only to the Iceland- 

 ers themselves. These fish do not seem to meet with nuich favor in 

 England, and attempts to introduce them, salted, into the Danish mar- 

 kets have not i)roved successful, another instance showing how difficult 

 it is to induce the public to take to a new article of food. For the Iceland- 

 ers the halibut is of great importance, as dried halibut is to them what 

 wheat bread is to us, while other dried fish correspond to the common, 

 everyday rye bread. I must admit that dried halibut with good fresh 

 butter is a very savory dish, and fully as digestible as our dark Danish 

 rye bread. For my own part I would gladly exchange all our cakes for 

 the inviting and finely-flavored dried Iceland halibut. The lump-fish 

 is smoked by the Icelanders, and as it forms a favorite article of food 

 with them and keeps for a long time, it is much sought after. 



In the fresh waters of Iceland salmon and several kinds of trout are 

 caught. The salmon is the most important of these fish, and might be 

 made still more valuable to the Icelanders. At present it is almost im- 

 l)ossible to ship the Iceland salmon fresh because it is difficult to get 

 ice to those places where it is needed. The salted salmon is not cured 

 in such a manner as to give it a generalsale. The Iceland salmon and 

 trout fisheries are on the decline, because the fisheries are carried on 

 during the wrong season, and because the seals are protected to the 

 detriment of the salmon; the Iceland rivers are moreover soon ex- 

 hausted if fishing is carried on to an excessive degree. In the lakes, 

 however, there are considerable trout fisheries. 



The (piestion may well be asked whether the Danish fishe«'ies near 

 Iceland, and the fisheries carried on by the Icelanders themselves, have 

 any future. I am of the opinion that the question can be answered in 

 the affirmative. But I do not think that the matter should be taken 

 hold of in the same manner as was done in 18(55, when a plan was under 

 discussion to start a joint-stock Iceland Fisheries Company, with a cap- 

 ital of $208,000 and about one hundred vessels. When it came to the 

 ])oint, the capital and the number of vessels were imt down much lower; 

 but the great mistake was that people here in Denmark thought thai 



