The Cod Wars were a series of skirmishes between Great Britain and Iceland during the 1950s and 1970s. Although the situation was thankfully resolved without bloodshed, it did illustrate some major political issues dealing with fishing rights, territorial waters, and the right of a country to protect its valuable natural resources. As human pressure on the environment increases, incidents like the Cod Wars may happen again.
The story begins with the cod, a fish which once existed in great bounty across the North Atlantic. Cod have been extensively fished by a variety of nations for centuries, and fortunes were built upon cod fisheries in places like Iceland. Iceland has historically relied very heavily on cod as an industry. Scientists in Iceland began to be concerned when long ranging ships from other countries fished for cod offshore. Although this practice was technically legal, it threatened cod stocks in Iceland.
In 1958, Iceland took action, extending an exclusive economic zone beyond its internationally recognized territorial waters. The country argued that this was necessary to protect the threatened cod fishery, and it pledged to enforce the zone with the assistance of a quota system and the Icelandic Coast Guard. Britain resented the move, and it sent fishing ships into the exclusive economic zone, along with escorts, setting off the first Cod War in fall 1958. After a few months of deliberate collisions, net cutting, and warning shots, the first Cod War ended with a treaty and an agreement to take future disputes to the International Court of Justice.
The Cod Wars, known in Icelandic as Þorskastríðin or Landhelgisstríðin, were not over. In 1972, Iceland extended the exclusive economic zone again, in an attempt to revive the failing fishery by forcing international producers out. The two countries almost literally went to war in 1973, but the crisis was averted after a series of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) talks. In 1975, however, another Cod War broke out, when the British refused to recognize the economic exclusion zone and Iceland once again sent out Coast Guard ships to enforce it. This time, Iceland threatened to withdraw from NATO and close a NATO base unless their demands were meant, and a final treaty was reached.
Although the Cod Wars might seem petty, they were a very important event in history. Iceland began to come into its own as a NATO power during the Cod Wars, when the nation realized that it had leverage. Issues with the cod fishery were more widely recognized, leading to more global awareness about sustainable fishing and a moratorium on cod fishing in some countries. It was fortunate that no one died during the Cod Wars; future conflicts over dwindling resources may not be so bloodless.