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Concept
Cod Wars
Summary
The Cod Wars (Þorskastríðin; also known as Landhelgisstríðin, The Coastal Wars; Kabeljaukriege) were a series of 20th-century confrontations between the United Kingdom (with aid from West Germany) and Iceland about fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended with an Icelandic victory.
Some Icelandic historians view the history of Iceland's struggle for control of its maritime resources in ten episodes, or ten cod wars. Fishing boats from Britain have been sailing to waters near Iceland in search of their catch since the 14th century. Agreements struck during the 15th century started a centuries-long series of intermittent disputes between the two countries. Demand for seafood and consequent competition for fish stocks grew rapidly in the 19th century.
The modern disputes or wars began in 1952 after Iceland expanded its territorial waters from 3 to based on a decision by the International Court of Justice. The United Kingdom responded by banning Icelandic ships landing their fish in British ports. In 1958, after a United Nations conference at which several countries sought to extend the limits of their territorial waters to at which no agreement was reached, Iceland unilaterally expanded its territorial waters to this limit and banned foreign fleets from fishing in these waters. Britain refused to accept this decision. This led to a modern series of confrontations with the United Kingdom and other western European countries that took place in three stages over 20 years: 1958–1961, 1972–73 and 1975–76. A threat of damage and danger to life was present, with British fishing boats escorted to the fishing grounds by the Royal Navy while the Icelandic Coast Guard attempted to chase them away and use long hawsers to cut nets from the British boats; ships from both sides suffered damage from ramming attacks.
Each confrontation concluded with an agreement favourable for Iceland. Iceland made threats it would withdraw from NATO, which would have forfeited NATO's access to most of the GIUK gap, a critical anti-submarine warfare chokepoint during the Cold War.
Official source
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