The nice stamp issued by the Faroer Islands in 1995 shows us some fishing boats discharging its catch.
On the URL below I found a little bit more on this stamp:
http://www.faroestamps.fo/download/stam ... and-22.pdf
As early as 1772 the Faroese knew how to produce klippfiskur (split dried salt cod, usually referred to as stockfish), but the process was forgotten within a generation or two and had to be re-learned. With the help of an Icelander hired in 1844 the method became viable and stockfish handled through the Danish crown monopoly ended up in Spain and other Mediterranean countries. Abolishment of the monopoly in 1856 presented the Faroes with a real opportunity to develop a fishing industry and independent export
trade. Everything remained small-scale until the transition from rowing boats to smacks
and sloops had been made. Fishermen learned to spend seven months a year at sea, roughly beginning after the cod returned to pre-spawning condition and ending in time to be home well before Christmas. Initially they divided their fishing time between the rich Faroes Banks and off the east and south coasts of Iceland.
As the British trawlers multiplied off the Faroe Islands,even entering fjords and sounds, local fish stocks became threatened. Fishermen virtually surrendered their own waters and began spending a full season off Iceland; in 1925 the west coast of Greenland was added, which in five years’ time became the most productive area. Denmark, attempting
to protect Inuits from contact with outsiders, frowned on the presence of Faroese ships
and repeated requests for a quiet fjord somewhere, in which ships could find shelter from
adverse weather, make repairs or obtain fresh water; relations with the mother country soured, but eventually the matter was settled amicably. Cod and some halibut, caught by old-fashioned handline with five baited hooks, were taken off the hooks and immediately cleaned, split, salted and placed in the hold. With 20 to 40 tons salted away vessels sailed home to unload and return for more. With the onset of winter, ships returned home, sometimes to fish in warmer Faroese waters for another 2-3 months.
Unloading of the salted fish, illustrated on the15k stamp in the 1995 folkways set of three and engraved from a photograph taken in the early 1920s, shows a number of women standing on the dock. They are not waiting to greet their husbands.
Women and some youngsters washed the fish thoroughly and spread them out on low, flat rocks along the shore to dry in the sun. Contrary to what you might read, the sun does come out occasionally in the Faroes. However, rain falls during some part of approximately 280 days each year, heaviest in autumn and winter, and dense fog occurs mostly in summer. Thus the women and youngsters spent long, arduous days either turning the fish to sun-dry or moving them under cover and back several times a
day to prevent the fish from spoiling. When landings increased considerably after World
War I, availability of rocks became a problem, resolved beginning in 1926 with the construction of artificial drying sheds where fish were either hung up or placed on gratings while stoves heated the air. Stockfish and a small amount of wet saltfish (in the state as unloaded from the ship) comprised 90% of exports during the years between
the wars, but sales plummeted in the 1930s due to restrictions beyond Faroese control:
Denmark forbade exports to Germany and almost none to Britain, and the League of Nations placed sanctions against Italy for invading Ethiopia. When major buyer Spain started a civil war, it triggered bankruptcies throughout the island.
Faroe Islands 1995 15k sg?, scott292