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

The Fisheries of the
Faroe Islands. An Overview
Jóan Pauli Joensen
Introduction
This overview traces the development of the fishery in the Faroe Islands
in the context of the general development of the Faroes. My own
research has so far concentrated on the fishery up until the Second World
War, and that will colour what I am going to present here, 43 but the
post-1945 period and the problems of a modern fishery have been dealt
with in recent years in several academic theses in various disciplines.
Whaling is also an important part of the Faroese maritime way of life,
and is treated separately in this volume. 44 The objective here is to present
a more complete and critical survey of literature and research concerning
both the older and modern fisheries in the Faroe Islands.
Fisheries in Early Times
Archeological evidence of the fisheries is very sparse, extending to a
collection of sinkers together with a few iron hooks, probably fishing
hooks. However, in a recent excavation a relatively large number of
objects relating to fisheries and seafaring in the thirteenth century was
found. 45 It is not until the later topographical literature about the Faroe
Islands appears that one finds descriptions of the fishery. 46
From the landnam period around 800 AD, the Faroes were generally
speaking no further from the centre of European commerce than other
countries, because at that time the ocean connected rather than separated
the Faroes from the world around it. But from the Middle Ages, the
43 This research is compiled in the thesis Fra bonde til fisker. Studier i overgangen fra
bondesamfund til fiskersamfund på Færøerne (Joensen 1987).
44 See Dorete Bloch’s paper.
45 Information from Símun V. Arge, Head of the Archeological Department, The
Museum of the Faroe Islands.
46 See J. C Svabos report from 1781-82 (Svabo 1959) and Sørensen’s memoirs from
1859. Reprinted in 1971 (Sørensen 1971).
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