The fishing industry on the Faroe Islands

When the coastal nations of the North Atlantic expanded their fishing zones to 200 nautical miles in the 1970s, vast areas of sea that had previously been international waters became national fishing areas. Large parts of the fishing activities at sea thereby went from fishing in international waters to fishing mainly in national waters as well as fishing based on agreements between nations about quotas in each other’s waters.

For the Faroe Islands, this meant that, in 1977, the country acquired the ownership and management rights of the fishing resources in an area of approx. 300,000 km². However, at the same time, access to traditional remote fishing areas became restricted, so that the Faroese fishing fleet to a greater extent than before had to operate in Faroese waters. However, annual agreements are concluded with other coastal nations on access to fishing quotas in each other’s waters, and rights are mainly acquired by exchanging quotas with the EU, Great Britain, Russia, Norway, Iceland and Greenland. Fishing also takes place in international waters. This mainly targets migratory pelagic fish populations that are managed in cooperation with the coastal nations involved.

Faroese fishing can be divided into two main segments: bottom fishing and pelagic fishing. Most of the bottom fishing is regulated by fishing days that are allocated annually. The pelagic fishery, on the other hand, is managed via annual quotas. The regulation is based on scientific advice and management plans. In terms of quantity, pelagic fish make up a larger percentage than demersal fish, meaning that pelagic fish represent approx. 75 % and demersal fish the remaining approx. 25 % of the total Faroese catch. However, since demersal fish are generally sold for higher prices than pelagic fish, demersal fish represent a slightly larger share of the total export value than pelagic fish.

Bottom fishing

In recent years, Faroese catches of demersal fish have amounted to around 130,000 tonnes annually. Of this, about 80,000 tonnes are caught in Faroese waters and the rest in the waters of other countries, mainly off Iceland, East Greenland and Canada as well as in the Barents Sea and international waters. Demersal fish species are characterised by being stationary and rarely migrate over long distances.

This form of fishing is much more complex than pelagic fishing and consists of a number of vessels which differ considerably from each other in terms of size and fishing methods as well as suitability in relation to fish species and geographical fishing areas.

Small cutters operate in coastal areas and mainly catch cod, haddock, ling, tusk, etc. The crew typically consists of one to three people, and the trips are typically one to two days long. The fishing takes place by longline or jig.

Line boats also account for a significant part of the segment. The smallest only operate on the Faroe Plateau and the surrounding banks. Larger line boats operate partly on the Faroe Plateau and deep areas in Faroese waters, but also get part of their catches in distant waters, especially off Iceland, in international waters east of Canada and in Greenland waters.

Trawlers come in different sizes. The smallest are allowed to fish in limited areas on the plateau, mainly for flatfish, but the majority of trawling takes place in deeper waters, either as pair trawling or single trawling. Pair trawling, i.e. when two trawlers pull a bottom trawl between them, is widely used in the Faroe Islands. This is mainly done to use less oil compared with single trawling, i.e. with trawl doors through which the trawl is spread out horizontally. The primary fish species for trawlers around the Faroe Islands is saithe. There are also factory trawlers that operate mainly in the Barents Sea and in Greenland waters where they primarily catch cod and shrimp.

A group of fishing vessels use pound nets to catch halibut and monkfish around the Faroe Islands. In addition, scallops are caught to a limited extent on the Faroe Plateau, and langoustine is caught in fjords and sounds using baskets.

Pelagic fishing

Pelagic fishing is more homogeneous than demersal fishing and takes place with large trawlers or combined purse seiners to catch mainly blue whiting, mackerel and Atlantic-Scandinavian herring. In most ships, the fish is stored in cooling tanks in chilled seawater, after which it is landed at factories. Some ships are equipped with a factory for cutting fillets, extracting fish oil and producing fish meal.

Species such as blue whiting, mackerel and herring are found high in the water column and often migrate over long distances in relatively fixed, seasonal migration patterns between spawning grounds, rearing grounds, feeding grounds and sometimes also overwintering areas. All three populations migrate to feeding grounds in the Norwegian Sea during spring and summer where there is an abundance of zooplankton. The migration patterns of the fish mean that the populations cross several national borders each year, and they are therefore considered common property among the coastal nations in which they migrate. The fishing fleets of the nations involved follow the migrations of the populations, and, if bilateral agreements have been made, they are allowed to fish within each other’s zones.

Blue whiting is the species mostly caught by Faroese fishermen. This fishing began in the 1970‑80s and increased substantially in the 1990s. Fishing takes place with pelagic trawls.

Of the three pelagic fish species mentioned, herring has been caught the longest by the Faroese. In the 1950s and 1960s, herring fishery was quite substantial for that time, especially east and north of the Faroe Islands, but it stopped when the herring population collapsed in the early 1970s. Fishing resumed with larger and more modern vessels when the population had recovered in the 1990s. Fishing takes place in the Norwegian Sea, in Faroese, Norwegian, Icelandic and international waters.

Mackerel fishery has undergone major changes in recent years. Up until the mid-2000s, the Faroe Islands had a modest share of the total mackerel catches. However, towards the end of the 2000s and in the following years, the mackerel expanded its summer feeding migration westward into Faroese and Icelandic waters. This meant that the country’s catch of the population increased accordingly.

Both blue whiting, herring and mackerel are mainly landed at factories that either freeze or process the fish.

From herring barrels to factory ships

The extensive catches of herring north of the Faroe Islands after World War II led to a lot of work on land with the herring, which was salted in barrels and exported to, e.g., East Germany and Sweden.

A herring factory was built in Fuglafjørð in 1966. Other small herring meal factories were located in Gøta, Tvøroyri, Klaksvík and Velbastaður, which made feed for, e.g., mink. In 2019, the export of fish meal and feed amounted to DKK 527 million.

In the 1970s, a number of factories were built to process herring, which was put in glass and thus became a finished product. In the 1980s, attempts were also made to produce surimi (crab sticks) from blue whiting both on board ships and on land, but the experiments proved futile.

When the quotas on pelagic fish increased from the year 2000, the shipowners wanted to get as much as possible out of mackerel, herring, blue whiting and capelin. Three factories have thus been established to make quality products since 2005, and in 2009, the first factory ship in the pelagic fishing fleet, Norðborg, came to the Faroe Islands. The intention was to process the entire pelagic catch and to increase the quality. On board Norðborg, herring and mackerel could be used to produce various products besides fishmeal and fish oil.

One example from 2016 is the approx. 40,000 tonnes of pelagic fish, which had a value of DKK 107 million when the catch came ashore unprocessed. However, after the fish had been frozen whole and packed either on board or on land, the value increased to DKK 179 million, i.e. an increase of 67 %. Another advantage is that the quality-improved product weighs a third less than if it is exported completely frozen, thereby significantly reducing export costs. By refining the frozen fish, you can achieve an additional 9 % in quality improvement. Quality improvement can, for the entire pelagic catch, generate between DKK 200 and 300 million more in income for the fishing industry.

Today, a significant part of the fishing industry takes place on board factory ships equipped with filleting machines and freezing capacity. The longline ships, which 10‑15 years ago sold the catch as fresh fish, have now almost all got cargo holds for freezing.

From dried cod to filleting factories

The fishing industry developed after the Icelander Holger Jacobæus came to the Faroe Islands in 1844 to teach the Faroese how to process dried cod. Previously, the fish had only been split and dried.

Catches increased when the first sloops came to the Faroe Islands in the 1870s. The first houses for drying fish were built at the beginning of 1900, and in the 1930s, they were replaced by modern houses where the fish was dried with air from motor-driven machines. That made it possible to produce dried cod all year round. From 1870 to 1960, dried cod and salted fish made up the majority of the country’s exports.

During the 1950s, power plants were built all over the Faroe Islands. This meant that the fish could now be frozen, and from the end of the 1950s and into the 1960s, a number of filleting factories were built where the fish was cut into fillets and frozen in small packages. From the 1970s, when the fishing boundary was moved out to 200 nautical miles, the catch of fresh fish grew significantly; more factories were built and they invested heavily in filleting machines and cold storages. However, even though all the factories had filleting machines, labour was still needed, since each fillet also had to be trimmed.

Both in national politics and not least in local politics, efforts were as much aimed at creating jobs as establishing a profitable industry. Filleting factories were established in almost all the large villages, and in 1978, there were 21 factories with a total of 1,249 employees – 606 men and 643 women. Despite public funding, the filleting industry as a whole made losses and many factories went bankrupt. After the economic crisis in 1992, the number of filleting and salt fish factories was reduced to seven.

Today, around 600 people work with filleting cod, saithe, haddock and other species of demersal fish. Of these, 300‑400 are employed at the two largest factories, which are also the most stable because they have secured the supply of raw materials by having ships affiliated with the companies. Most factories block-freeze the fillets, while two or three salt them.

Saithe is mainly exported to countries in the EU, especially Germany, France and Poland. Cod is mainly exported to Great Britain, Poland and Denmark, and haddock is exported to Great Britain. The salted fish is exported to Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Cod is the most expensive demersal fish, and in 2019, the country’s export totalled DKK 1.2 billion. The export value of frozen cod fillets amounted to DKK 353 million, while the whole frozen cod had a value of DKK 203 million. The salted fish factories’ export totalled DKK 246 million and exported split cod fillets for DKK 217 million.

In the same year, the export of saithe amounted to DKK 273 million, of which the export of frozen fillets accounted for DKK 234 million. The export of haddock amounted to DKK 184 million, mainly as export of whole, chilled fish. The factory trawlers’ catches of cod and haddock, which are mainly caught in the Barents Sea, are included in these figures.

Further reading

• Agriculture on the Faroe Islands
• Bakkafrost
• Education and research on the Faroe Islands
• Energy supply on the Faroe Islands
• Government and constitution on the Faroe Islands
• Health and care on the Faroe Islands
• Hiddenfjord
• Industry and labour market on the Faroe Islands
• Municipalities on the Faroe Islands
• Politics and plans on the Faroe Islands
• Population and housing on the Faroe Islands
• Restaurant KOKS
• Salmon farming on the Faroe Islands
• Salt on the Faroe Islands
• Shipping Company Varðin
• Veltan
• Wind Turbines on the Faroe Islands

Read more about Society and business on the Faroe Islands