66° 9′ N, 23° 15′W
An Icelandic Villages Story Through Sustainable Fishing
Bolungarvík is a small, isolated fishing village in Iceland’s Westfjord region. My intention with these photographs is to tell the story of and the people of Bolungarvik’s relationship to the ocean, to lives of commercial fishing, and to each other. A major part of this project was funded by a grant from the Expeditions Council of National Geographic.
Rich fishing grounds offshore from Bolungarvík have supported its residents since the time of the Vikings. Although the government of Iceland now sets strict quotas and rules for management of the fishery, that foresight has made it possible for this town to survive, when similar villages in Iceland, Maritime Canada, and Britain have disappeared. This is important as Iceland derives a large part of its GDP from fish and fishing-related industries.
Many visitors to Bolungarvík cannot understand why anyone would want to live there. Most people who live there cannot understand why anyone would want to live anywhere else. The people of Bolungarvik are like a great extended family, and I was fortunate enough to be welcomed inside. Fishermen took me with them to sea, the fish-processing factories allowed me inside, and over several months in winter and summer, the 962 people of town treated me as one of their own. The people I met were warm, generous, and fun loving. History, tradition, and family dominate their lives. The work is hard, dangerous and monotonous, but the money earned allows for a remarkable quality of life.
Through these photographs, my intention was to portray this village as it went about its daily life: conscious of the effect the fisheries industry has on the ocean. It is a practice, and a lifestyle, that is succeeding as similar fisheries around the world fail. Iceland, and Bolungarvik in particular, have become models of the commercial-fishing world. Just last month the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, Joe Borg, specifically requested assistance from Iceland in creating a new and sustainable fisheries policy for the entire European Union, noting that the EU’s current policy has failed.
This is Bolungarvik’s story.
Jon Golden, Charlottesville, Virginia
38° 1′ N, 78° 28′ W
Ósvör, a replica 19th century fishing hut outside of Bolungarvík
The Ósvör museum consists of a replica of a 19th century double fishing booth, salt-shed, fish drying platform and a fish drying shed. It also has on display the fishing boat Ölver that represents the type of boats that were used for fishing at earlier times. The museum gives a realistic picture of the accommodation offered to fishermen of the 19th century, during the harsh winter fishing seasons.