North Eastern Atlantic

The North Atlantic southwest of Iceland washes the Reykjanes peninsula and the approaches to Faxaflói. Fishing grounds off this coast supported settlements such as Keflavík, while merchants carried Icelandic fish to markets overseas. In the sixteenth century Hamburg merchants held a large share of the island's foreign trade, particularly in the southwest. The Danish crown introduced a monopoly in 1602, changing who could trade at Icelandic harbors while ships continued to cross the exposed waters around the peninsula.