120 BULLETIN OP THE UNITED STATES PISH COMMISSION. 
39.-— NOTES ON THE HATCHERIES AND FRESH-WATER FISHERIES 
OF ICELAND. 
By BE1\£D. S. THORARINSSON. 
In 1883 the Icelanders began the first inquiry into the fisheries of 
their lakes and rivers. The first step in this direction was made by the 
assembly of Iceland ( Althing ) granting a total amount of 3,000 crowns 
($804) for these investigations. Mr. Arthur Feddersen, editor of the 
Danish Fiskeritidende, was engaged to examine the rivers and lakes 
of Iceland and to report upon their condition. Accordingly, in the 
summer of 1884 he traveled through the country and published de- 
scriptions of the fresh- water fisheries of Iceland and a report of his 
examinations.* Also, he advised the establishment of two hatcheries, 
one for salmon, at Reynivellir ; the other for trout, at Thingvellir. 
For the hatchery at Reynivellir a hut of earth and stones was built, 
Hi by feet, with a small window at one end and a narrow and low 
door. This hut cost 140 crowns ($37.52). It is situated at the foot of 
a slope, in boggy ground. The spring- water is conducted by a channel 
through the upper part of the wall into the hut, where it falls into a 
filtering box. The hatchery contains five California hatching- troughs, 
and it is not possible to hatch more than 30,000 eggs. 
The person who conducted the hatchery, Mr. Nils Johanson, a Swedish 
farmer, kept a daily journal giving the temperature of the air and 
water. According to this journal, a partial table of the temperatures 
is as follows : 
Partial temperatures during the hatching season. 
Date. 
Air. 
Water. 
Date. 
Air. 
Water. 
Cent. 
Fahr. 
Cent. 
Fahr. 
Cent. 
Fahr. 
Cent. 
Fahr. 
Oct. 16,1884 
Oct. 27,1884 
Oct. 28,1884 
Nov. 1,1884 
Nov. 7, 1884 
o 
6 
o 
42.8 
o 
6.5 
o 
43.7 
Feb. 3,1885 
Feb. 10, 1885 
Feb. 14, 1885 
Feb. 23, 1885 
Feb. 28, 1885 
Mai. 1, 1885 
o 
—6.5 
o 
20.3 
O 
o 
4 
39.2 
—6 
21.2 
—4 
24.8 
—9 
15.8 
2-3 
35.6-37.4 
—9 
15.8 
2 
35.6 
—10 
14 
Dec. 20, 1884 
Dec. 21, 1884 
Dec. 27, 1884 
Dec. 28, 1884 
Jan. 21, 1885 
Feb. 1,1885 
—6 
2L. 2 
—7.5 
18.5 
2.5-3 
36.5-37.4 
3 
37.4 
Mar. 13, 1885 
Apr. 2,1885 
Apr. 20, 1885 
Apr. 21, 1885 
6 
42. 8 
1-2 
33. 8-35. 6 
—10 
14 
—6 
21.2 
4-7.5 
39. 2-45. 5 
4 
39.2 
4 
39.2 
0 
32 
At a waterfall in the Laxa River a box was placed in which to retain 
the salmon taken for spawning purposes. Fishing for these spawning 
fish began at the salmon fall ( Laxfoss ) on September 26 and lasted till 
* For three articles by Mr. Feddersen on this subject, see Fish Commission Report 
for 1884, pp. 301 and 323, and Fish Commission Bulletin for 1886, p. 161. 
