78 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES [2] 
° 
_And still we enjoy this great advantage over foreigners, that we can 
deposit and prepare the fish in Iceland and furnish a much more valua- 
ble and durable article than foreigners, who, moreover, have to travel 
about 250 (Danish) miles before they reach the fishing station. The 
reason why the Icelanders, who are by nature directed towards the sea 
as their principal source of income, are not benefited thereby as they 
might be, is the circumstance that they are not able to procure larger 
sea-going vessels. These are, as will be seen from the following, an 
essential condition, if the Iceland fisheries are to flourish; and when it 
becomes known what great advantages would accrue to the country from 
such vessels, it is to be hoped that the government will carry out my 
proposition and help the Icelanders by advancing a sum of money 
without charging interest, and thus relieve the lack of capital which 
makes itself painfully felt. It cannot be wondered at that such a lack 
of capital exists, if we bear in mind the fact that for centuries Iceland 
has labored under the most unfavorable financial conditions. It is im- 
possible to overcome the baneful influences of monopolies and protection 
in a few short years. 
It is very strange, however, that Danish capital has not long since 
been invested in so profitable an undertaking as the Iceland bank 
fisheries. Here is a vast field, which unfortunately has been allowed to 
lie fallow too long, and which ought to be reclaimed as soon as practi- 
cable. 
I know full well that Danish merchant vessels have from time to time 
attempted codfishing in the Iceland waters, andthat the result has been, 
that these fisheries ‘‘barely pay expenses.” But these vessels have 
carried cargo both going and coming. The cargo has been the main object, 
and the fisheries only a matter of secondary importance, since only 
about six weeks can be devoted to them from the time the cargo is 
unloaded until a new cargo is taken. It is self-evident that it. will not_ 
pay to fit out a vessel for fishing for so short a period, and, moreover, go 
to the expense of buying provisions and salt in Iceland. That the 
fisheries will pay, when made the principal object, [have found out this 
year, when I undertook my expedition without any regard to cargo. 
This does not imply, however, that it does not pay to take cargo, if 
only about five months—say from May to September, inclusive—can be 
entirely devoted to the fisheries. 
I shall now speak separately of the two principal fisheries which are 
carried on near Iceland, viz, the cod fisheries and the herring fisheries. 
The reason why I shall not devote any time to other fisheries is simply 
this, that I have not, during this year, made any observations regard- 
ing them, and, moreover, none of them are of very great importance, 
1.—THE COD FISHERIES. 
These fisheries are the principal source of revenue to the Icelanders. 
To show how little use is made of this source of income, owing to the 
