67 The same year the crews of trawlers, other steam ships, sailing ves- sels, large motor ships, small-sized motor boats, and rowing-boats averaged respectively: 25, 16.5, 15, 10.3, 4.3, and 4.1 men each, The development of the fisheries has greatly influenced the distri. bution of the population and is the main reason for the migration of the people from the rural districts to the fishing stations and villages on the coasts. There has thus been a large increase in the number of persons employed in fishing and the various industries subsidiary there- to, The numerical total of those dependent on the fisheries for their living was: 1880 . . . . 901 . . , i920 . . . . 3700 persons, or 12 per cent. of the population 9 000 i - 11 - = 8 700 —_ - 20 —- —- THE COD FISHERIES The majority of the decked vessels are occupied in fishing cod and cod-like species, a trade which is also followed almost exclusively by the rowing and motor boats. In 1927 one hundred and thirty eight decked vessels were engaged in cod fishing; 57 in cod and herring fishing, while 68 were employed in the herring fisheries exclusively. The chief fishing is done during the first 4—5 months of the year (winter fishing season) off the south coast of Iceland, and vields as a rule about three-fifths of the total catch of the year. The following figures illustrate the catch of cod and ced-like species (in thousands of fish) during the period 1897—1927. |897—1900 average 19011905 1906 —1910 1911 —1915 1916 —1920 19211925 1926 . . . 1027 - Cod 1639 Small cod 1 ME 5 02 1227 pg: * 106 SR 3198 2717 8907 14893 10318 18 067 15755 Haddock 1972 Total 289 14 897 707 17031 126 18 094 KN) 340 22828 149 28 J41 24 092 2005 194 1903 25726 1217 130 1492 28 050 2210 159 2 909 39100 The quantity of fish landed has thus been steadily increasing during the whole of this period. This is due not only to the constantly in- creasing number of ships, but also and especially to the replacement of the old types of vessels by steamers, steam trawlers and motor ships.