The next town on our tour of North Iceland, Siglufjordur, put us just 14 miles from the Arctic Circle.  This was as far north as we got in Iceland and perhaps as close to the Arctic Circle I will ever get. 

(For all pictures, click on the image to see full screen view.)

Known for their history of its fishing industry, Siglufjordur has been shrinking in size since the 1950’s, when the population maxed out at 3,000.  What was the draw?  Herring, and a lot of it!  Siglufjordur was the largest herring town of all, thanks to the abundance of this profitable fish.  In the 1960’s, however, the fishing industry collapsed, due to over-fishing and the major downturn of the world market for stockfish.  The town had relied on just the one industry, which proved to be a catastrophic.  People left, property values fell; and, many shops and services closed their doors.  Today, there are less than 1,200 people calling this little town home.

Fortunately, the herring stock slowly recovered, although it is carefully regulated and monitored.  The town also reinvented itself with the The Herring Era Museum and Folk Music Centre — both draws for tourism.  It also hosts the Herring Festival every August, and the Folk Music Festival every July.

We made the journey to this quaint town to visit both museums.  The Herring Era Museum brings back to life the “glory days” of Iceland’s herring fisheries and industry.  As the 2004 winner of the European Museum Award, it was considered Europe’s best new museum of industry and technology.  I can see why; it was worth the visit! 

I wanted to know why this fish was so important.  First, it is one of the most abundant fish species in the world.  It is also quite nutritious, rich in vitamin D and Omega3.  The consumption of herring and its industry has been so significant to so many European countries that it is regarded as the most commercially important fish in history.

For Iceland, the herring fisheries (producing salt herring for human consumption, fish-meal and oil) sometimes accounted for nearly half of the country’s national income.

Iceland’s first plants to process fish-meal and oil were set up in 1911 by Norwegian entrepreneurs.  In the following decades, dozens more were built around the coast of Iceland — first by foreigners, later by Icelanders.

What was most interesting to me was learning about the “Herring Girls.”  Between the 1910’s and 1960’s, thousands of young women formed the backbone of Iceland’s thriving fishing industry.  And, they worked their backs to the bone doing it.  These women came from all around Iceland to work gutting, cleaning, and salting barrels for freshly caught fish.  They often earned more money than men working the docks; however, the conditions were brutal, and the living conditions were worse.  We saw how they lived; eight to a tiny bedroom sharing two sets of bunk beds.  Can you imagine two people sleeping on a tiny mattress?  One would sleep with their head at one end, and the other would have their head at the opposite end.  That alone would be a non-starter for me!  These gals were tough.

It was the Herring Girls that helped secure gender equality in Iceland, because they fought for equal pay and labor rights.  They are the reason Iceland ranks #1 on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report.  You go, girls! 

Following our morning at the museums, we continued heading to Akureyri, our base for three nights.  This will be the topic of my next post…

Next up:  Appealing Akureyri

Note: If small group travel is of interest to you, I highly recommend Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). Although Bruce and I travel together, they do not charge a single supplement for those who travel on their own. Singles also get their own room at hotels. If you book, you can get $100 off your trip by providing my name and customer number (Elaine Krugman, #3018126) as the person who referred you. I will also get $100 off future travel– a win-win!