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

1) In recognition of the concessions given to the Faroese fishermen at Greenland the
Lagting has to withhold its decisions of 1924 and 1925 and must express the wish and
hope that the government after renewed considerations in full will comply with the
wishes of the Lagting and by this with those of the Faroese population.
2) The Lagting applies to the ministry on being informed about the statements that
last year were pronounced by the Greenlandic councils in response to the wishes
expressed by the Faroe Islands in this case. 159
In Copenhagen the Social Democratic government and the central
administration took the Faroese claims much more seriously this time.
With broad acceptance both in the public and the political world,
Parliament issued a new law, to run for one year but with a clear
possibility of extension if successful.
The well situated and secure natural harbour of ‘Færingehavn’
(Kangerluarsoruseq) near the mouth of Buksefjorden and the rich Fylla’s
Bank was equipped and opened and immediately became a success. The
territorial sea off the skerries was opened for inshore fishing with
handline and longline but not for trawlers. The season was stipulated as
three months.
The debate in the Rigsdagen demonstrated that what mattered was not
the many Faroese arguments but public awareness of the real social and
economic problems of the ordinary families of the Islands. The real
obstacle for the Faroese case lay in Grønlands Styrelse (The Greenlandic
Department) which always had had much more power than the few and
divided pro-Faroese civil servants in the central administration. The
other serious problem lay in the rising self-consciousness of the
Greenlanders expressed by their country councils who more and more
vigorously opposed any interference in what they viewed as their special
rights to the natural resources. In 1928 both the Greenlandic councils
voted against prolonging the 1927 concessions to the Faroese. 160
159 Committee report and caucus considerations on the address to the government, finally
accepted unanimously 29 September 1926, Lagtingstidende, 1926, annex 73, 143-45.
160 In Lagtingstidende 1927, annex 62, 131-32 and committee report, annex 15,
185/1927 ‘Fisketørring i Grønland’, 1-2, are expressed recognitions of the achieved
results but at the same time is demonstrated the immediate pressure for further
concessions about installations for drying the fish and the use of a Greenlandic workforce
to that end. The Home Secretary presented to Parliament in the spring of 1927 a law
about the matter and urged for swift deliberation and prompt acceptance. Parliament
responded accordingly and access to the territorial sea, better harbours, new charts etc.
was confirmed by law. Only Danish (Faroese) and Icelandic fishing was allowed and no
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