History of the North Sea claimed no more than narrow coastal waters. In the last few decades things have changed. The countries bordering the North Sea all claim the twelve nautical miles (22 km) of territorial waters within which they have, for example, exclusive fishing rights. Iceland, however, as a result of the Cod Wars has exclusive fishing rights for from its coast, into parts of the North Sea. The Common Fisheries Policy of the EU exists to coordinate fishing rights and assist with disputes between EU states and the EU border state of Norway. After the discovery of mineral resources in the North Sea,
Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery of Maine had led to overfishing despite regulation. Thus, overestimates of stock biomass due to generalisation of local estimates, and ignorance of environmental factors in growth or recovery potential of a cod fishery would lead to mismanagement and further collapse of stocks, through further unsustainable quotas, as in the past. Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery In 1992 the Canadian Federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Crosbie, declared a moratorium on the Northern Cod fishery, which for the preceding 500 years had largely shaped the lives and communities of Canada's eastern coast. Fishing societies interplay with the resources