Fishing industry in Scotland conflicting interest of the inshore and distant water fishermen. The Scottish fleet had a strong interest in seeing the exclusive 12 mile (22.2 km) limit retained; but the UK Government was also pressed by the distant water fleet, mainly, but not solely based on the east coast of England, which wanted to continue fishing off Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. The distant water fishermen were, of course, strongly opposed to any extension of territorial waters of any country, including the UK. The drama of the "cod war" with Iceland was still to come, with Britain's attempt to protect the
Murray cod of this fact, are of great concern. Murray cod were originally the most common large native fish in the Murray-Darling basin. Contrary to some fishery department literature, the first serious declines in Murray cod were caused by extremely severe overfishing. In the latter half of the 1800s and the early 1900s, Murray cod — very large, very long-lived fish — were caught in unimaginable numbers by both commercial and recreational fishermen. For example, one commercial fishing operation commenced on the Murray River near Echuca in 1855, targeting Murray cod over hundreds of kilometres of river, and yet within eight years,