Fishing has always been part of Icelandic people's lives, whether it be as an industry or a favourite pastime.
Fishing
If we start by covering the fishing industry and leave the angling side of
it for a while, that is what has built up this country. Not only is it Iceland's
main industry today, but it pretty much always has been (apart from the time
when, ages ago, people starved to death just because they didn't realise how
much fish was all around them) and is also responsible for most of the coastal
towns in Iceland as many of them wouldn't exist without the fish industry.
(In early 1900's the fish industry accounted for about 90% of the national income, currently it is close to 65% of national exports)
The ocean around Iceland is very good for fishing as it is filled with fish (mainly Cod). It is so good that the British even tried to fight us for it in a battle known as the Cod Wars a few decades back.
More recently, we have been facing other problems on the fishing front however, as global warming may be reducing the cod stock sizes in the Atlantic Ocean.
For information on the Icelandic fish industry, see the Ministry of Fisheries
Whaling
A part of Iceland's fish industry used to be whaling as well, but for a couple
of decades, no whaling was allowed to take place around Iceland.
We preferred to observe them and show them to others, rather than hunting
them.
Recently, some scientific hunting did take place, but the animals caught were
very few and the objective purely scientific. The focus still remains on whale
watching.
For more on whales, see the "whales" category.
Angling/Fly-fishing
Iceland is also an extremely good place for angling, not least due to the
amazing serenity and exquisite surroundings. It has also been very popular
with the "rich and famous" and I don't know about all of them, but
I can tell you that Kevin Costner and Eric Clapton both loved it.
In fact, Clapton's famous song "wonderful tonight" is about one
of the Salmon rivers he was fishing in and its surroundings. (Not actually
true...)
Our salmon is the so called N-Atlantic salmon, which can only be found in
Norway, Ireland, Scotland and Iceland - out of which it is in great danger
from genetically modified, fish farm salmon in all but Iceland. This is mainly
due to the fact that it is very important to us that it remains pure, which
is in line with most Icelandic animal strategies, as we like to keep our breeds
as original and natural as we can.
As an example, the Icelandic horse has also remained completely purebred as
no importation of horses into the country is allowed and if you take your
horse out of the country, it can never return.
For more information on Horses, see the category by the
same name.
Now for some more practical information:
The salmon fishing season in Icelandic rivers stretches from the 20th of May
until the 30th of September, with a 12-hour daily fishing period. When fishing
in Iceland you will be required to log your catch in logbooks which each fishing
area will have handy. The main reason for this is to enable the Icelandic
Institute of Freshwater Fisheries to compile and process statistical information
on the Icelandic fish.
Although I have only mentioned salmon, trout fishing is also very popular in Iceland and in some places you may also encounter eel.
The best fishing places
Probably the top fishing areas in Iceland are Norðurá (North-River),
Haffjarðará (Ocean-Fjord-River) and Þverá for Salmon
and Laxá (Salmon-River) in Þingeyjarsysla, Eyjafjarðará
(Island-Fjord-River) and Víðidalsá (from mid-August) for
Trout.
Laxá in Þingeyjarsysla (which is in the exquisite Mývatn
area - more information on Myvatn in the geology section here)
and Víðidalsá are also quite good for Salmon, but especially
good for Trout.
By the "top fishing areas" I mean that these are consistently good, even if others might top their numbers some years.
They are all located in very beautiful surroundings, but perhaps Haffjarðará a little more beautiful than the rest. If you are mainly after a touch of nature, a fine combination of good fishing and beautiful landscape can also be found in Hrútafjarðará, as well.
If you are going to visit Norðurá or Þverá, do take the opportunity to spend some time in the surrounding Borgarfjörður as it is a very good example of Iceland's colourful nature.
The remaining information
For further information on angling in Iceland, check out:
http://www.lax-a.is/default.asp
or
http://www.strengir.is/index.html
For fantastic experiences of whale watching or sea fishing, check out the links below:
http://www.elding.is/index.asp?lang=en
(Sea fishing and whale watching in the Reykjavik area)
http://www.nordursigling.is/
(Whale watching in the North of Iceland.)
More information on whaling can also be found in the "whales"
category.
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