A fisherman in summer and a psychology student in winter

Axel Örn Guðmundsson was a teenager when he purchased his first fishing boat, right as he finished compulsory education. Now at 25 he studies psychology at the University of Iceland during the winter but uses the summer months for inshore fishing which earns him enough of an income to last him through the winter when his focus is on his studies.

“Inshore fishing is a comfortable summer job if you‘re a student. If fishing is good the income is good as well and I’m thrilled that I don‘t have to take student loans,” he says in an interview with Morgunbladid.

In his last year of compulsory education Axel managed to complete the required training to obtain a captain’s permit for fishing boats under 12 meters in length. Axel, who hails from the village of Ísafjörður in the Westfjords, bought the boat used from Mr Hartmann Jónsson, an ageing sailor. Axel had carefully saved most the money he had made fishing with his father and accumulated about 1,5 million krona, or about $11.000 if using today‘s exchange rate, which turned out to be enough to pay half the asking price. “I made a deal with Hartmann to pay half up front at the start of the summer and the rest at the end of summer, after the fishing season. I owned the boat debt-free from then on,” says Axel who christened his boat after the original owner, as a sign of gratitude.

Inshore fishing requires getting up very early in the morning and Axel works alone. “I have a good internet connection out at sea so I can make calls, listen to podcasts and to music. I don’t mind fishing by myself. Of course I try to avoid any dangers, and sometimes the weather isn’t as good as it could be, but I’ve never found myself in a hairy situation,” says Axel who tries to be out at sea for no more than 14 hours at a time.

The Icelandic inshore fishing system prohibits fishing during Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and only allows fishermen to be at sea for twelve days a month for each of the four months of the fishing season which lasts from May to August.

The boat isn't big, but well suited to inshore fishing.