April 1951 



COMvERGIAL FISKERIES REVIEW 



53 



Considering the loss occasioned by the trawler dispute,the I95O catch compared favor- 

 ably with 1949. Cod accounted for 58 percent of the total catch of demersal fish in 

 1950 as compared to 62 percent in I949 (table 2). 



Table S - Icelandic ?ish Catch by Species, 1949-50 



Species 



1950 



1949 



opecies 



1950 



1949 



Plaice 

 Lemon sole 



Witch 



Megrim . . . . 



Dab 



Halibut ... 



Skate 



Cod 



(metric tons) 



2,255 



627 



52 



28 



11 



736 



102 



151,839 



3,721 



897 



408 



101 



72 



1,529 



82 



164,311 



Haddock 



Ling 



i-/olffish (catfish) ..o 

 Ocean perch (rosefish) 



Goalfish 



Gusk (tusk) 



Herring 



Unspecified 



Grand Total 



(metric tons) 



15,934 

 2,729 

 4,542 

 6,634 



12,508 

 1,255 



60,441 



63,321-1 / 

 323,027 



18,812 

 4,4-95 

 11,062 

 26,927 

 32,417 

 1,083 

 71,407 



l^onsisted mainly of rosefish and some coalflsh delivered to reduction plants 



337,322 



The most interesting development in the demersal fisheries in I950 was the ex- 

 ploitation of ocean perch (rosefish) fisheries. In view of the firm foreign markets 

 for meal and oil, there was a good demand for ocean perch at the reduction plants, 

 A few trawlers received special authorization to engage in ocean perch fisheries off 

 the north coast during the trawler seamen's strike, and they were joined by many 

 other trawlers after the dispute was settled in November, The fish delivered by the 

 trawlers to the reduction plants vrare not sorted by species, accounting for the "un- 

 specified" category in table 2, It is known that most of the fish in this category 

 (probably as much as three-fourths of the total) were ocean p&rch, the remainder con- 

 sisting principally of coalf ish. 



The 1950 principal herring fish- 

 eries, which take place off the north 

 coast during the summer months, were 

 most disappointing, the catch amount- 

 ing only to 32,000 tons. However, the 

 year's total herring catch was raised 

 to 60,000 tons as the result of an un- 

 expected run of herring during the fall 

 and early winter months off the south- 

 west coast. 



Utilization ; Iliere were marked 

 changes in I950 in the utilization of 

 Iceland's fish catch (table 3). 



Iceland's fishing Industry was 

 in a state of flux and conversion in 

 1950, as a result of the collapse of 

 the previously lucrative markets for 

 iced and frozen fish. In view of the 

 loss of foreign markets for iced fish 

 and frozen fish, the local fishing 

 industry turned to salting the catch. 

 More fish was delivered for salting 

 than for any other method' of prepara- 

 tion. Salt-fish operations thus once 

 again became a predominant feature of 



FIGURE 1 - IN FAX 



LARGE AND COMPL 

 PROCESSING PLAN 

 BY THE AID OF S 

 METHODS USED IN 

 MEAL AND EDIBLE 

 ARE SOME OF THE 

 EQUIPMENT (two 

 WHOLE FISH UNDE 

 MODERN PLANT. 

 VIEW, DECEMBER 



A BAY, SOUTHWESTERN ICELAND, A 

 ETELY MODERN HERRING- AND FISH- 

 T HAS RECENTLY BEEN CONSTRUCTED 

 UBSTANTIAL EGA FINANCING. THE 

 THIS PLANT FOR PRODUCING FISH 

 OILS ARE ENTIRELY NEW. SHOWN 

 NEW EGA-BOUGHT MACHINERY AND 

 EVAPORATORS USED "IN DEHYDRATING 

 R vacuum) in THIS LARGE AND 

 (see commercial FISHERIES RE- 

 1950, PP. 41-5.) 



