THINGEYRI, Iceland -- Kristjan Davidsson went to sea as a deckhand at 16. At fisheries college he aspired to be a boat captain. For two decades, he sold fish and fish-processing equipment. Like his father, and practically everyone in this remote village, he owed his living to the fish his country pulled from the ocean.

But in 2001 Mr. Davidsson got bored. He joined one of Iceland's newly privatized banks. He got rich. Now, he says, it looks like it's back to fish. That may be true for this nation's fortunes as a whole.

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