The North Atlantic Fisheries, 1100-1976 - University of Hull

The other investigation concerns the treatment by the Greenland
Council of fishing issues. The Greenland Council was a political
Greenlandic-Danish common body which advised the Ministry on
questions of development and planning in Greenland. It existed from
1964 to 1979. During this period several documents were produced for
the Council. The public had access to most of the documents. As in the
case of the Country Council, all documents on general development and
planning contained a great deal about the fishery as well. A count of
documents specifically related to the fishery therefore underestimates the
significance of the issue. Nevertheless, out of 605 documents, 71 were
essentially concerned with the fishery. We thus find the same level as at
the Country Council: 11%.
Summary and Outlook
Before 1900, the Greenlanders had only fished to cover their own needs
even if other products such as seal hides and seal blubber had been traded
for 150 years. The paper is concerned with four questions regarding the
twentieth-century fishery of the Greenlanders: 1) What do we know
about the fisheries in Greenland? 2) From where do we obtain our
knowledge? 3) Where do we get more information? 4) In which fields is
our knowledge especially sparse or non existant?
The questions can be answered as follows:
1) We have a fairly good account of the scale of the fishery, especially
such factors as the magnitude of the catch, number of fishermen and
boats involved, and processing facilities. In outline, we know something
about the politics of the fishery.
2) Our knowledge stems from official records kept in the archives and to
a great extent printed in yearly reports. These data were generated
because all Greenlandic business up to 1950 was managed by a state
agency. It was obliged to keep records as the Treasury in the final
analysis had to cover its deficit. A list of some of these publications is
attached to the paper.
3) More information can be gleaned from further analysis of known
material. In particular, research in the archives of local and central
authorities can probably bring forth new and more detailed knowledge
about policy and its implementation.
4) Our knowledge is scanty in the socio-economic and socio-cultural
fields.
Three areas seem to be of major interest:
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