The fishing soul of Iceland

In the calm waters of the fishing port of Hafnarfjördur, on the southwest coast of Iceland, the blue of the sky and the white of the clouds are reflected, creating a beautiful postcard-like effect. From here, boats set sail to fish for cod, haddock, and other species in the precious Icelandic fishing grounds, which from August last year to this July provided a combined catch of one million tons of fish.

Read more Iceland, a gift too good for Europe

An economic pillar and a symbol of national identity, fishing has occupied a central place in the debate prior to the referendum held yesterday in Iceland on whether or not to resume negotiations with Brussels for accession to the European Union (EU), frozen since 2015.

“The reality is that the most important issue is sovereignty; fishing is a symbol of sovereignty. The ambitions regarding fishing are due both to the fact that fishing is extremely important for our economy and that it is a symbol of our sovereignty,” says historian Hjörtur Gudmundsson, a fisheries specialist, who voted no in the popular consultation yesterday.

Seafood products represent almost 40% of exports and around 7% of GDP, and between fishing and fish processing, the sector accounts for almost 4% of the country’s employment. Although in recent years tourism and aluminum smelting have surpassed fishing in economic impact, this activity practiced on the North Atlantic island since time immemorial continues to be key to the economy and to the conception many Icelanders have of their nation.

“In the second half of the last century, Icelanders fought the ‘Cod Wars’ against the British; opposition to joining the EU is something we see as a continuation of our struggle to secure sovereignty, to not have trawlers from the very large Spanish fleet or the also large Dutch fleet in our waters,” argues Gudmundsson, who is around 50 years old, as we have coffee on a terrace on this cool and sunny August day.

The so-called ‘Cod Wars’, which pitted Iceland against the United Kingdom on three occasions between 1958 and 1976, constitute a crucial milestone in the Icelandic national narrative. To protect its fish populations, the island progressively and unilaterally extended its exclusive fishing zone, which led to confrontations with British fishermen who also fished in those waters: ramming, destruction of nets, and even cannon fire.

The Icelandic coast guard escorted its fishing boats, while London sent its frigates to do the same with theirs. Fortunately, there were no deaths. “Of course, people in Iceland, and not just fishermen, still remember the ‘Cod Wars’ very well,” Gudmundsson adds.

Read more Slight lead for the «yes» in the Icelandic EU referendum with 60% counted

Hafnarfjördur, the third most populous municipality in Iceland with almost 32,000 inhabitants, is located ten kilometers from the capital, Reykjavik, so fishing, although important, coexists with other professions and businesses. “There is a division between urban areas, Reykjavik and its surroundings, including Hafnarfjördur and Kópavogur, and the coastal towns where fishing is indeed the main economic activity – assures Helga Thorsteinsdóttir, head of archives at the Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV –. Rural communities mostly oppose the EU, while city people tend to be more in favor.”

Thorsteinsdóttir, 49 years old, resident in Hafnarfjördur, voted yes enthusiastically in the referendum. We talked yesterday on the street during her sports routine with a friend who also chose yes on the ballot. “Although we live in Hafnarfjördur, what matters to us is the economy and the good of Iceland as a whole, the entire country, its security – says Birna Árnadóttir, a 56-year-old geographer, now employed in elderly care –. We do not focus only on our small town; I think most Icelanders have a holistic view of all this.”

Both are very critical of the fish consortia in Iceland, and of the distribution of fishing quotas, conceived in the 1980s to limit catches and thus avoid overexploitation of the fishing grounds, but which, since they can be sold and leased, have generated a concentration that benefits a few large companies to the detriment of self-employed fishermen.

“Companies engaged in fishing have a lot of money and, of course, they benefit from the status quo; there is an accumulation of wealth in a few large companies, which have the power and the money, and have carried out a fairly effective campaign to convince many people to say no,” laments Helga Thorsteinsdóttir. No surprises: in a recent Gallup consultancy survey conducted among Icelandic companies, 90% of those belonging to the fishing sector strongly expressed their rejection of EU accession.