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

and the use of unpublished sources would amplify and qualify such
research.
Some round figures may indicate the significance of the fisheries in
this period. The catch of cod increased between 1911 and 1917 from 20
tons to nearly 200 tons a year; between 1918 and 1925 from 500 to 1,000;
between 1926 and 1930 from 2,000 to a peak of 9,658. From there it
stayed between 7,000 and 9,500 tons until 1942, excepting 1938, when a
meagre catch of 5,492 tons was returned. This was not only an absolute
growth, but a relative one as well. Compared to all products sold to the
Royal Trade Company, the cod catch of 1911-1917 was up 5%; that of
1918-1925 was up between 8 and 13%; and the figure for 1926-1939 was
30-45% higher. The number of fishermen also grew substantially
between 1911 and 1940 (see table 1). It is fair to say that the fisheries in
this period grew to be the single most important industry in Greenland.
Table 1. Number of fishermen, Greenland, 1911-1940
Year Number of
fishermen
Percentage of
labour force
1911 322 11
1921 476 15
1930 1324 32
1940 1500 27
Several issues characterise the period to the end of the 1920s, none of
which have been studied properly using the sources. Outstanding is the
controversy in Greenland between traditionalists, who wanted to hang on
to seal hunting as the main occupation, and modernists, who saw
opportunities for Greenlanders in developing the fishery. Both camps
had their patrons in the Danish political/administrative system. A
problematic source situation exists in this field. The written debate is
very limited, and worse still, most of it is written in Greenlandic, a
language which only a few master. Some possibilities for
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