In the mid-20th century, Britain and Iceland went to war, to some degree. The Cod Wars were a series of disputes between Britain and Iceland which took place between the 1950s to the 1970s. The clash between the two nations was concerning the rights to fish in Icelandic waters.
There were no invasions, bombings or declarations of war, but there was a hard-fought conflict over precious resources. And yet, despite the differences in size, population and resources – the tiny nation of Iceland won every time. Here, we explore the Cod Wars in more detail and examine how and why Iceland became victorious in the conflict to secure their territorial waters.
Did Britain and Iceland really go to war over fish?
Voice over: "In the mid-20th century, Britain and Iceland went to war, sort of. There were no invasions or bombings or even declarations of war, but there was a hard-fought conflict over precious resources; fish for fish and chips. And yet, despite the differences in, population, size and resources – the tiny nation of Iceland won every time. To find out why, we first need to go back to the 19th century."
Collection video footage of Grimsby trawler.
Voice over: "Britain’s love affair with fish and chips began with the industrial revolution. New fishing boats allowed British fisherman to sail further and faster, while railways allowed fish to be transported inland to growing cities. Fish and chips became a cheap and nutritious meal for working class people."
Andrew Humphries: "English people prefer to eat cod and haddock, we don't like oily fish, and the best fishing grounds for cod and haddock were in the northern waters up towards Iceland. We'd actually been fishing off Icelandic waters since as early as the 14th century, but now we had these new fishing vessels we started to favour Icelandic fishing grounds, they were much more viable as a destination for our fishing fleet."
Voice over: "Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, as the 20th century began Iceland was a poor country ruled by Denmark. It's fleets were mainly subsistence fishermen with only a sliver of their catch being exported to Europe."
Andrew Humphries: "You know, Iceland does not have a lot of arable and agricultural land and so they exist on fish. Iceland still has relatively small wooden boats and so this is causing a problem because now that the British boats and other European nations are coming into Icelandic waters, they can catch far more fish than the Icelandics can, and that fish is valuable so it starts to become an issue."
Voice over: "By the 1930s, Iceland had modernised its fleet and wanted to export more fish, but Denmark was unwilling to challenge the British fishermen. It wasn’t until the Second World War that things began to change. In 1940, Denmark was invaded by Nazi Germany. Shortly afterwards, Iceland was occupied by Britain and then the United States. Then, in 1944, Iceland voted for its independence from Denmark and began to assert itself as a free nation."
Andrew Humphries: "What they do is they claim a territorial exclusion zone. They're not unique in this, the 1940s and into the 50s, a lot of small nations around the world are gaining independence but they decide they need to protect their waters and protect the fish that the country is so reliant on."
Voice over: "In 1958, Icelandic politicians decided to unilaterally extend Iceland’s exclusive economic zone where they alone could fish, from 4 nautical miles to 12. This was supposed to preserve fish stocks and increase catches for Icelandic fisherman, but the British took no notice."
Andrew Humphries: "So, what the Icelandic forces would do is they had Coast Guard vessels and they would attempt to arrest the crews. You talk to some of the fishermen, they say it was quite comical in some senses in that the British sailors would stand on deck and pelt them with potatoes and eggs and bags of flour. But at the same time it was quite dangerous. The Icelandic vessels when they couldn't board, they would even resort to ramming the ships hoping the captains would be too afraid of getting the ships damaged, so they would leave the zone."
Voice over: "Clashes like these were sporadic for the next three years, before Britain agreed to the 12-mile limit at the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Iceland got what they wanted, but British vessels would still be able to fish inside the limit during certain months of the year. The first Cod War was over, but that peace would not last."
Andrew Humphries: "It's not just the British Fleet, by now there are various boats from European countries. They are scooping up huge amounts of cod and there's a genuine worry that the cod supplies are being overfished. We talk about that today, that's nothing new and they couldn't control it without keeping foreign vessels out."
Voice over: "In 1972, Icelandic politicians decided, once again, to unilaterally extended their exclusive economic zone, this time to 50 miles. Britain, once again, continued to fish in Icelandic waters."
Andrew Humphries: "This time the Icelandics had new technology. They had these things underwater which were almost like giant shears, they would sail above the nets of the British trawlers with these giant shears underneath and they would shear the cables. A set of nets is a hugely expensive piece of kit, you're talking tens of thousands of pounds, so this was a real deterrent against the British trawlers. And at this point the Royal Navy comes in, so it's a cat and mouse game. The Icelandic Coast Guard are trying to sail across the back of the trawlers to cut the nets, the Royal Navy ships are trying to head off the Icelandic Coast Guard. So, there's like this huge chess game going on between the three different kinds of boats."
Voice over: "The Second Cod War was a short affair. It came to an end just over a year later in November 1973, when Britain agreed to limit its annual catch to 130,000 tons of fish for the next three years. However, when that agreement came to an end in November 1975, things fell apart all over again. Iceland decided to expand their zone even further to 200 nautical miles. And predictably, Britian refused to recognise the new limits. The Third Cod War would be the most violent yet, but as the Royal Navy put to sea once again, the Iceland government deployed their trump card."
Andrew Humphries: "There was more than just fish involved in this conflict, this is the height of the Cold War. Iceland was very important to NATO, it had an important US Air Force presence and it had a listening station. The Icelandics saw this as a, sort of, ace up their sleeve and they said if America wouldn't step in and help to resolve this issue in favour of Iceland then they might not be too willing to extend the lease on the US military facilities in Iceland. And so, the Americans applied pressure to the UK government to resolve the issue and if necessary resolve it in favour of the Icelandic government."
Voice over: "American pressure over Iceland’s NATO membership was a crucial reason for British capitulation in all three Cod Wars. In June 1976, Britain and Iceland reached an agreement that has held to this day. In fact, 200 nautical miles is now the standard exclusive economic zone in international law. It was another victory for Iceland."
Andrew Humphries: "Ultimately the fishing industry was a greater priority for Icelandic politicians than it was in Britain. Fishing was already in decline from its heyday, and so British politicians felt that they could afford to give way on fishing rights in a way that Iceland just couldn't afford to."
Voice over: "The UK fishing industry was gutted by the outcome of the Cod Wars. Grimsby was once home to the world’s largest fishing fleet. Today, the fleet is no more. As part of an IWM funded project, Friends, Foes, and Good Companions, Andrew worked with illustrator, Olivier Kugler, to tell the stories of those who lived through the Cod Wars."
Andrew Humphries: "Talking to Grimsby fishermen and to fishermen elsewhere in the country, they never blamed Iceland. They feel that they were sold out by the UK government. The government would buy fishing boats off the owners of the boats and the fishing licenses, these ended up being sold off to other European nations."
Voice over: "Today, thanks to careful management of their fish stocks, Iceland continues to enjoy the economic benefits of its waters. And 50 years on from the Cod Wars, the communities involved have become closer than ever."
Iceland maintains an honorary consul in Grimsby, as now Grimsby has no fishing fleet whatsoever, but it retains its position as the biggest processor of fish in the UK. So, you have a situation now where former adversaries of 50 years ago, they're now mutually dependent on each other for their economic future."