82 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [6] 
crew of 10 each, these would during the same time, i. e., 3$ months, have 
caught: 26 vessels with 15 men, in 34 months, 946,400 fish; 2 vessels 
with 10 men, in 34 months, 24,500 fish—total, 970,900 fish, representing 
a value of 218,400 crowns ($58,531.20); in other words, all the condi- 
tions being equal, the result of the fisheries is four times as large when 
larger sea-going vessels are employed than with open boats, and the 
pecuniary result is over 43 times as large. 
No more convincing proof could be furnished of the superiority of 
larger sea-going vessels for deep-sea fisheries, over open boats; but 
there are still other circumstances which speak strongly in favor of 
larger sea-going vessels: 
1, The Icelanders lose a great deal of time by being obliged to row 
several miles before reaching their fishing stations, and then having to 
row home again the same distance, whilst larger vessels can stay on the 
fishing banks for months. 
2. Storms and waves often interrupt the fisheries, not to speak of the 
great danger to which open boats are exposed on the high sea, where a 
sudden storm may often compel the fishermen to cast nearly all the fish 
they have caught overboard in order to save their lives. On a sea- 
going vessel, however, the fisheries are not exposed to as many dangers. 
Regular rest, strengthening food and dry clothes, make the fishermen 
better fitted for work, than sleepless nights, poor food (or none at all), 
and wet clothes, such as fall to the share of the open-boat fishermen. 
3. The fish can be much better prepared on larger vessels, where they 
are immediately killed, cleaned, and salted, and can thus be made into 
a much more valuable article than is possible in the open boats. The 
Icelanders never kill their fish in their boats; but often let them lie for 
one or several days, so that the blood coagulates, the fish turn dark in 
the brine, become less durable, and of course much less valuable. The 
best and fattest fish, moreover, are found far away from the coast, and 
every one, acquainted with the herring fisheries, knows that the so-called 
“vacht-fish” fetch a much higher price than “ boat-fish.” 
It is not necessary to give further reasons against the use of open 
boats for deep-sea fishing, ¢. e., when the boats are stationed near the 
shore. The comparisons given above will be amply sufficient to prove 
this: That the result of the fisheries, all other things being even, is 
four times as large when sea-going vessels are employed as with open 
boats. The former have, moreover, the great advantage, that with them 
fishing can be carried on all the year round, whenever the weather per- 
mits, as the schools can be followed up when they leave the coast. 
The above-mentioned 400 men from Akranes and Opland would, e. g., 
in seven months’ great fisheries and two months’ boat fisheries, reach 
the following results: 
; Fish. 
26 sea-going vessels, at 15 men (March 1 to October 1).........----. .----. 1, 892, 800 
1 sea-going vessel with 10 men (March 1 to October 1) .......---..-...---- 49, 00U 
87 boats (4 to 5 men each), November 1 to December 1........--..-------- 130, 000 
