English Freezing plants
With the closure of salt fish markets during the great depression, new methods were tried to increase variety in seafood processing. Quick freezing of fish fillets was introduced by Íshúsfélag Ísfirðinga in Ísafjörður and in Bíldudalur in 1936. This innovative production method was quickly taken up by others. The first freezing plants were both few and small. The technology was however already in place in mechanised ice-houses. With renovation and new equipment the number of freezing plants and production capacity increased rapidly. Freezing plants were operated in every fjords and every inlet that had sustainable urban kernels. From 1945-1990 There were 3 large freezing plants in Ísafjörður and in Hnífsdalur: Norðurtanginn, Íshúsfélag Ísfirðinga and Hraðfrystihúsið í Hnífsdal.
Detail
In 1945 there were 15 freezing plants operating in the West Fjords. Exports of frozen fish from Iceland increased from 1,000 tons in 1936 to 29,000 tons in 1945. With the advent of stern trawlers that were operated in connection with the freezing plants throughout the West Fjords, the area flourished with an increase in population and in house building after 1970. After 1980 this era was at an end with limits on cod fishing and later with the introduction of the fisheries quota system which brought a very significant reduction in catches and processing of white fish.
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