Introduction
Research has acknowledged the relationship between fishing pressure and the health of fish populations, including demersal fish such as cod (Thurstan et al., 2010; Thurstan, 2022). While there are several factors that determine the size of catches—including environmental conditions, the fishing gear used, and the degree of effort involved—extraction technologies require an anchor point onshore to transform marine resources into terrestrial commodities. An extensive range of facilities, such as harbors, processing plants, drying racks, and warehouses, are built manifestations of the ecological pressure on marine ecosystems. They allow us to trace the connections between the built environment and fish populations. Nonetheless, a methodology for estimating such impact has yet to be established.
This paper presents the results of a weeklong workshop held in Ísafjörður, Iceland, organized as part of a broader research project focused on the industrialization of fisheries along the shores of the North Atlantic, exploring the interconnections between onshore fishing-related infrastructure and offshore natural resources. Having developed from a simple trading post into an urban center through fishery activities during the twentieth century (Þór, 1984), this town in the Westfjords peninsula is an ideal place to study cod in the assessment of the dynamics of fishing architecture. The paper focuses on the methodology employed to tackle these often-overlooked connections between the built environment and marine populations.
Context
Alongside agriculture, fisheries were the predominant economic sector throughout Iceland’s history, experiencing exponential growth at the end of the nineteenth century and bolstering the numerous fishing settlements spread along its shores (Arnason, 1995). The environmental conditions provide ideal spawning grounds during the spring season for both coastal and frontal Atlantic cod populations, as they aggregate in pockets of marine space around the country (Jónsson, 1996; Sólmundsson et al., 2015). The largest of the spawning areas is in southwestern Iceland, where migrant Atlantic cod spawn at varying depths (Grabowski et al., 2011; Sólmundsson et al., 2015). Outside the spawning season, the northern areas provide ideal feeding grounds for both frontal and coastal mature cod (Sólmundsson et al., 2015).
Ísafjörður started out as a commercial outpost that eventually took on great importance as a center of fish processing and export. The town is located on a sandbar (Eyrin) jutting out into the fjord Skutulsfjörður, which provides ideal conditions for mooring large vessels protected from the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic. From the seventeenth century on, this sandbar hosted a Danish trade outport which gave rise to a small community with a strong symbolic presence. In 1866, the few existing houses were granted municipal administrative status, and in 1902 the harbor welcomed its first motorized fishing boat. In the following years, Ísafjörður experienced significant urban growth, its population expanding from 830 to over 1,960 inhabitants between 1890 and 1920 (Þór, 1984, 38). In recent decades, the fishing fortunes of the Westfjords have waned, following the introduction of individual transferable quotas (Edvardsson et al., 2018). Despite still being the home base for several fishing vessels, onshore processing is now only a shadow of what it once was.
Three approach angles
Three teams were established for the workshop, focusing on 1) urban development, 2) the cod life cycle, and 3) Icelandic fisheries. The research ran parallel with lectures on regional development in fishing coastal communities (Kokorsch & Benediktsson, 2018); the history of the Icelandic cod fisheries and settlements (Edvardsson, 2010); Atlantic cod behavior, population structure, migrations, and management (Ólafsdóttir et al., 2017); archival sources and the documentation of local history (Hreiðarsdóttir et al., 2005); the distribution and movement of juvenile Atlantic cod; seascapes and geography (Benediktsson & Waage, 2015); and the urban history of neighboring communities.
Urban development
This group based its work on archival materials, including bibliographies, maps, and photographs. A selection of objects covering an extensive period was assembled and inventoried, and the work was organized toward: a) an archival photographic survey, and b) urban development mapping.
Archival photographic survey. Two sources were scrutinized to construct a geo-tagged database of historical photographs from Ísafjörður: the online database Sarpur, and a historical book on local commerce (Halldórsson, 2007). The first task was to identify images of the main street (Aðalstræti), then expand out to the local neighborhood, and later to the entire urban area. Over 150 sources were briefly catalogued and cross-checked with a recent house survey (Bergsson et al., 2022) and the current online property register.1 Images were mapped, revealing how buildings were transformed through time, and when such transformations occurred (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Ísafjörður, 1900 and 1907 panorama (Courtesy Safnahúsið, Ísafjörður Culture House and archives).
Hafnarstræti and Silfurgata junction, 1927–1928 and circa 1940. (Courtesy Ísafjörður Regional Photo Archives).
Consolidated historical mapping. Survey plans from 1865, 1905, 1924, 1935, and 1970 were selected to depict the major urban transformations occurring within the time frame under scrutiny. After being georeferenced, it was critical to adapt their original forms to match projection systems and reference buildings and harmonize different criteria used in their original production.
The output was not a complete match: while the form and development of the Eyrin sandspit were accurate, some buildings appeared shifted (Figure 2). The setback was overcome by adopting the 1924 urban survey, the most comprehensive of the period, as a reference to be vectorized. The maps were analyzed to obtain information on construction materials (e.g., concrete versus timber in 1924) or functions (e.g., housing, warehouses, and cod drying facilities in 1905). The outcome outlined Ísafjörður’s urban development from 1865 to 1970, highlighting the 1910s and 1920s as key periods of growth with the rise of fisheries (Seelow, 2011, 164–67).
Figure 2. Overlapping of historical cartography representing Ísafjörður’s physical transformation between 1865 and 1970.
Reference materials sourced from Ísafjörður Regional Archives.
Cod life cycle
The group initially selected three papers on the life cycle of Icelandic Atlantic cod (Astthorsson et al., 1994; Pálsson & Thorsteinsson, 2003; Thorsteinsson et al., 2012). These papers outlined spawning grounds south of Iceland, larvae dispersal, juvenile maturation in fjords, and adults inhabiting the northern continental shelf. Complementarily, the concept of the ‘Codexian’ was introduced to bridge the disciplines of marine biology and architecture, as discussed below.
Movement patterns. As a preliminary approach to the work, three spatial and temporal scales of Atlantic cod movement and behavior were discussed: daily, seasonal, and across their development from larvae to adult. The team decided to focus on individual cod instead of populations to grasp the dynamics of cod movement and behavior for different body sizes and ecotypes. Acoustic telemetry data for the movement and behavior of four Atlantic cod juveniles (1–3 years aged) within a fjord (Dýrafjörður) across different seasons were analyzed.2 The data assessment compared individual movement over time, considering water temperature as a factor likely to influence their choices (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Movement network analysis of two juvenile Atlantic cod in Dýrafjörður's nursery ground over the seasons.
Nodes size indicates the number of times a fish comes and goes close to a site while the arrows represent the direction and frequency of how often the individual fish moved between sites. The result shows possible sites within a nursery ground that are of interest to the fish throughout space and time.
Data assessment. From the literature review, it was possible to identify the main parameters of habitat suitability and preferences in different stages of individual cod development. Depth, water temperature, salinity, and currents, and water velocity were charted, offering visual renderings of habitat suitability for 2021.3 Although inconclusive, the potential areas of interaction between the general dynamics of cod populations and their life cycle were mapped (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Movement patterns of Atlantic cod in the Icelandic region, spawning areas, and feeding grounds.
Redrawn from Pampoulie et al. (2023).
Environmental data and map illustrations from various cod studies (e.g., Pampoulie et al., 2023; Thorsteinsson et al., 2012) were overlaid to understand where and when the larval life stages are likely to move around Iceland, and where adult populations are likely to move or stay resident, based on environmental (e.g., temperature, currents) and biological factors (e.g., spawning and feeding grounds).
Codexian. The Codexian—an imaginary creature—was introduced as a methodological and conceptual tool. This metaphorical entity symbolizes the interconnectedness between the human and marine worlds, but it can also be viewed as an attempt to create a platform of co-exploration through notions of engagement, exploration, play, and the blending of fiction and reality.
Although the Codexian emerged as a creative tool, it acted as a mediator between scientific and artistic lenses. Participants enacted their rituals, using a video narrative to integrate observation, respect, and cross-disciplinary explorations. This performance involved actions such as casting a line with a waterproof camera and hydrophone into the sea to observe and listen to the cod. The method proved illustrative to grasp the variables at stake in the different working time frames, underscoring the need for experimental methodologies to address the natural environment (Benediktsson & Waage, 2015).
Icelandic fisheries
The work of this group began with a preliminary collation of Icelandic fish landings data from 1905 to 2022, creating a dashboard to track the overall fishing activities. The objective was to support the search for historical data to fill equivalent data sets to reconstruct a historical perspective in relation to Ísafjörður’s urban development.
During the workshop, two lines of work provided consistent results: a) temporal tracing of vessel technology and capacity, and b) preliminary assessment of historical fisheries data. Relevant historical references to fishing grounds and sites were also discussed (Edvardsson, 2010, 317).
Vessel technology and capacity. The different vessels, their capacities, dimensions, and technological features were assessed to shed light on the major historical transformation in fishing gear and equipment used in operations based in Ísafjörður. The focus followed a historical sequence: open rowing boats; decked boats and schooners; steam and diesel motorized boats; motorized side trawlers; stern trawlers (Jónsson, 1983; Sverrisson, 2002). The vessels emerged as the inevitable link between the terrestrial and marine ecosystems, connecting the transformations occurring in both environments (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Timeline of fishing vessels and built cod processing facilities.
Examples of ships registered for Ísafjörður’s cod fisheries and contemporary buildings.
Historical fisheries data. The assessment of archival data on historical fisheries allowed this group to understand what kind of data is available and to which years it applies.4 Preliminary data sourced from Statistics Iceland and available in spreadsheets could be promptly processed. The most relevant pattern was the increased percentage of Icelandic Atlantic cod within the world catch, rising from a 5.95% minimum in 1968 to a peak of 22.82% in 1991. Throughout the period range, Icelandic cod saw a growth in its worldwide relevance, with a steady decrease evident elsewhere, even before the 1992 Canadian moratorium on the Grand Banks cod fisheries.
A noticeable feature was the similar patterns between herring and cod Atlantic catches, particularly in the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, a coincidence that is neutralized by the increasing economic relevance of cod as compared with herring, which was of lower value. This data could be overlapped with the archival photographic survey, considering herring’s relevance in Ísafjörður during the 1920s, in direct chronological relation to the Icelandic “herring adventure” (Hamilton et al., 2004). The statistical findings showed how herring has a lower profile within Ísafjörður’s historical narratives, which tend to emphasize cod fisheries as a major engine of its social organization.
Discussion
Assessing the relationship between fish populations and the built environment within an ecosystem requires the consideration of a multitude of variables, including biological, ecological, environmental, and social factors. The methods adopted in the workshop helped the participants to fulfill such requirements, although its limited time frame precluded intense cross-disciplinary experimentation.
The character of the results obtained underscored the significance of visual renderings. During the discussion of the multiple research threads, the juxtaposition of the visual materials produced by each team brought evidential aspects to the fore and highlighted areas of synthesis. For example, comparing the scale of fishing gear (Figure 5) with the scale of the urban features (Figure 1) revealed a continuity between the marine and terrestrial forms of human activity that coincided with the amount of cod biomass extracted from its natural environment (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Graph showing Atlantic cod catches within ICES area Va (27.5.a, Iceland Grounds) between 1905 and 1992.
Catch data is presented in tons. The lines represent catches by the Icelandic fleet (dotted line), other countries’ fleets (dashed line), and total catches in the area (solid line).
When dealing with marine systems and terrestrial landscapes, representation translates concrete dynamic processes into abstract and stable forms: the specific variables of cod behavior are represented as something fixed. Objective representations allow us to materialize connections and grasp possible understandings of the elusive relationship between fish populations and built environments. During the workshop, this possibility became obvious through an objectification of the sheer scale of cod spawning areas and feeding grounds in relation to Iceland’s land areas.
The workshop also reinforced the idea of technology as a connector between the different lines of inquiry, environmental conditions, and ecological transformations. Based on the technology deployed in fisheries but also on the methods used to acquire knowledge, such as Automatic Identification Systems, the buoys used to triangulate, record, and transmit fish-tagging devices, or access to fish-landing statistics, technology explains many of the interconnections we want to highlight and understand. Nonetheless, the fact that the prior relations persist beyond major technological shifts makes it clear that technology is no more than a link within a more complex chain of factors and events.
One inconclusive question was how to address the relationships between individual cod behaviors and population patterns. The history of urban dynamics is parallel to the economic data of fish landings, yet it is seldom sufficient to enable us to grasp a coherent picture of fish at sea. The cod life cycle is regular, it displays homogeneity and can be co-related to environmental conditions. Traits such as shyness and boldness can represent a behavioral syndrome or even indicate animal personality (Budaev & Brown, 2011; Cote et al., 2010; Réale et al., 2007). For example, Atlantic cod behave differently based on spatial responses to environmental fluctuations (Villegas-Ríos et al., 2018). The genetic differentiation of coastal and frontal cod in Iceland is also being investigated on an ongoing basis as studies suggest a link with the movement and behavior of individual fish (e.g., Arnason et al., 2009; Beukeboom et al., 2022; Beukeboom et al., 2023; Pampoulie et al., 2008; Pampoulie et al., 2023).
The workshop results highlighted a general area of focus within the research project: the temporal mismatch observed in the linkage between sea and land. Ísafjörður is a case in point, illustrating the spatial overlapping of urban dynamics, marine ecosystems, and cod populations. Its physical location is close to cod feeding grounds and to the highly productive Hali grounds, where the continental shelf slopes steeply down into the deep ocean of the Denmark Strait. Although it was a historic trading post, Ísafjörður’s urban growth was due to motorized fisheries and the cod economy that developed in the early twentieth century. As one can see in the chronology of urban development, transformations on land took time, and in decades past, urban visions were adjusted, abandoned, and redefined. Yet, the cod life cycle remained stable, from the larval to juvenile stages and on to maturity and senescence. Their rhythms do not match the architectural, social, and terrestrial transformation cycles. The challenge presented by the preliminary results that came out was to trace such chronological matches and mismatches within a specific chronological time frame.
Conclusions
The workshop clearly revealed the potential that visual representations have for addressing the dynamic relationship between cod, construction, and communities. It allowed us to assess the availability of data on a) fish landings and the national economy, b) the environment and physio-chemical conditions in the ocean, c) urban development, and d) the local economy. Our experimentation with different representation methods yielded approaches to e) mapping, f) statistics, and g) ecosystem modeling. The workshop generated a local historical outline and references to further studies on the existing background. With respect to fish biology and behavior, it provided general descriptions of cod at the levels of species, population, ecotype, and individual, suggesting strategies that can be used in representing and tracking the multiple scales involved. With respect to the chronological framework of the research, which runs from 1815 to 1992, it allowed us to narrow down the time frame of the Ísafjörður case study to the period between 1897 and 1942.
Ethics and consent
Ethical approval and consent were not required.
Data availability
The data used for Figure 3 represents a small subset of acoustic telemetry tracking data collected from two individual fish within a fjord system equipped with an acoustic receiver array. This subset includes date and timestamps, fish IDs, station IDs, and corresponding latitude and longitude coordinates.
The full dataset is not currently available via online open access, as it is part of a larger ongoing tracking project. Once data collection is complete, the full dataset will be made available through the Ocean Tracking Network Data Portal.
In the meantime, readers or reviewers who wish to access the subset data may contact Michelle Valliant, PhD Candidate at the University of Iceland, via email at miv1@hi.is.
The data used for Figure 6 is based on the dataset Catches of Atlantic cod in Icelandic waters in the 5a area, 1905–2019, available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15168429 (Directorate of Fisheries, 2025).
This dataset was derived from the database of the Icelandic Directorate of Fisheries (https://statice.is/statistics/business-sectors/fisheries/), accessed on March 20, 2024.
Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).
Acknowledgements
The paper presents the results of a teamwork comprised by many more than its authors. We want to acknowledge the enthusiastic participation of Sadie Ainsworth (University Centre of the Westfjords), Liliano Ferreira (University of Porto), Anna Gehlen (University Centre of the Westfjords), Perla Gísladóttir (Iceland University of the Arts), Anna Morozova (University Centre of the Westfjords), Miguel Oliveira (University of Porto) Luna Scéau (Bergen School of Architecture), Katherine Stewart (Iceland University of the Arts), and Lena Winderen (Bergen School of Architecture). Guest lectures provided fruitful insights and initiated relevant discussions, namely Matthias Kokorsch (University Centre of the Westfjords), Ragnar Edvardsson (University of Iceland, Research Centre West Fjords), Guðfinna Hreiðarsdóttir (Safnahúsið, Ísafjörður Culture House and archives), Guðbjörg Ásta Ólafsdóttir (University of Iceland, Research Centre West Fjords) and Einar Hlér Einarsson (Sei Studio). The workshop was made possible through a collaboration with the University Centre of the Westfjords, and we want to acknowledge its staff’s warm welcome and hosting. Heimabyggð carefully provided food, and the operation was successful due to the organizational care and attention granted by Claudia Soares (University of Porto). This work is part of the Fishing Architecture research project and the authors want to acknowledge the discussions and contributions of the entire team.
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