Icelandic rowboat

A six-oared rowboat, typical of the part of the Westfjords where it is preserved, at the Ósvör museum by the town Bolungarvík (Driftwood bay, seen in the background). Fisheries have always been a mainstay of Icelandic economy, along with sheep and cattle farming; and in the southwest and western parts it was historically the most important activity. From settlement in the 9th Century until the dawn of the 20th Century fisheries almost exclusively took place by tiny rowboats, with 6-10 oars. Fisheries was mostly a seasonal activity, from January to May, when schools of cod and haddock and other fish come to spawn in shallower waters; this also happened to be a relatively idle time at the sheep farms. Almost half of the adult and healthy menfolk engaged in fisheries and up to 10-15% of the population migrated from farms to fishing outposts each year, where some 3,000-5,000 rowboats would ply the stormy waters every winter and early spring. They would usually only go 2-3 miles from the shore, but this was still very dangerous work, and a sudden storm could leave dozens of widows and orphans. The fish was mostly for domestic consumption, but dried fish was also exported. No permanent fishing towns formed in Iceland until the 19th Century.