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

Greenland. The Lagting decided on 10-11 September 1924 on an official
address to the Danish government on both topics.
The main points about the Greenland fishery in the address 140 were as
follows:
a) A recapitulation of the first address of 1914 meaning that this was
not a new claim but an old one. 141
b) The multitude of fish off Greenland was not exploited by the
Greenlanders themselves and ought to be utilized, a contention which the
Faroese had advanced for a generation, but in vain. 142
c) The fleet of fishing vessels numbered about 200, while there were
about 3,000 fishermen. 143
d) The relatively small size of the sailing vessels and the long
distances—up to 1,700 nautical miles—made it imperative that
permanent land stations should be set up for provisions etc.
e) On board the small ships one could not rinse, salt and store the fish
effectively. It had to be done at land stations with the help of a
Greenlandic work force.
f) The Greenlanders would then to their own benefit be educated in the
fishing industry.
g) The five permanent land stations would be situated at Julianehåb
(Qaqortoq), Frederikshåb (Paamiut), Fiskenæs (Qeqertarsuatsiaat),
Godthåb (Nuuk) and Sukkertoppen (Maniitsoq).
h) As Danish citizens the Faroese ought to have the right to utilize
substantial resources inside areas of the realm under the authority of the
state.
i) The maritime charts of the vast and complicated West Greenlandic
territorial seas were inaccurate and outdated, if at all available. The
Lagting called for the government to print new charts immediately from
the originals in the Søkortarkivet (Hydrographic Department) in
Copenhagen.
140 Text in Lagtingstidende, 1924, 132-34.
141 The protests over the British trawlers and the claim of a guaranteed territorial sea date
back to the 1890s but so did the considerations about fishing off Greenland, see footnote
10.
142 The first application from the Lagting to the Danish government concerning research
about the Greenland fishery dates back to 1897, Føringatíðindi, 16/9 1897, Patursson,
Fiskiveiði, p 258. But more serious steps were first taken in 1910 and 1914.
143 A check in the official Skibsregisteret results in only 154 (or 151 or 156) deep-sea
vessels and it is more likely that the number of men aboard was 2,500 rather than 3,000,
cf. Patursson, Fiskiveiði, 348, 552 and Spanner, ‘Færøfiskeriet’, 24.
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