The “Cod War”

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34149, 10 May 1976, Page 14

The “Cod War”

An Icelandic fog appears to surround the future of long-disputed fishing by British trawlermen in Iceland’s waters. A week ago Icelanders were saying that the Cod War had ended in “ a complete British surrender British trawlers were reported to be heading for Norwegian waters instead, after the Royal Navy reduced the level of protection it was offering them from harassment by Icelandic patrol vessels.

But after strong complaints from British trawlermen, the Government appears to have reversed its policy. Eight collisions were reported between British and Icelandic ships during one night late last week, the worst on record in four years of conflict. Additional British warships have been ordered into the disputed fishing zone which extends 200 miles into the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland.

For the time being, the Hull trawlermen are having their way, but the vacillations in the British Government’s instructions to the Royal Navy suggest that Britain is rethinking its fishing policy, especially in relation to Iceland. Britain probably has little choice, for the formal adoption of the 200-mile fishing limit, already accepted in principle by the Law-of-the-Sea Conference, is only a matter of time. The new, tough line by naval vessels protecting British trawlers may be no more than a temporary sop to the fishermen while the search for other fishing grounds is intensified. This search will have to be associated with the wider sharing of fishing grounds by member States of the European Economic Community, and even by Russia and Japan, if they are disposed to participate on a fair basis. Interest is already being shown in a 200-mile sea zone surrounding the bleak Atlantic islet of Rockall, west of Scotland. The region may provide access to oil as well as fish; so it is hardly surprising that Britain is not alone in looking to this part of the ocean. The Irish have made a claim to the Rockall plateau for possible exploitation: and the Danes also claim it because of its proximity to the Faroes. Clearly there is a great deal of disputation ahead before any law of the sea can be drafted providing for a fair sharing of resources which the conference has already described as “ the common heritage of mankind ”.