A New Fishing World Order

• Main Author: Byrne, Jo
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Liverpool University Press 2022
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/liverpool/9781800856554.003.0003

This chapter explores the arrival and consequences of the global emergence of fishing limits that culminated in the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In the North Atlantic, the Icelandic push for limits ahead of international consensus met with British resistance and defeat in three Cod Wars that took place between 1958 and 1976. The resultant expulsion of British trawlers from new Icelandic limits coincided with Britain’s own waters becoming part of a shared European Economic Community common pond. The chapter examines first-hand accounts and remembered attitudes towards conflict, limits, quotas, and the uncertainty surrounding the content of a common fisheries policy (CFP). It reveals a fragmented industry, set in its ways and not immediately responsive to the need to adapt.