Cod Wars a collision with the British frigate "Apollo", they collided again, on 29 August 1973. Several explanations for the Cod Wars have been put forward. Recent studies have focused on the underlying economic, legal and strategic drivers for Iceland and the United Kingdom, as well as the domestic and international factors that contributed to the escalation of the dispute. Lessons drawn from the Cod Wars have been applied to international relations theory. Fishermen from Britain began to fish in the international waters near Iceland in the 15th century. From the early 16th century onward, English sailors and fishermen were a major
Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery that extended to 200 mi offshore. The government wanted to reverse declining fish stocks by removing foreign fishing within the new inshore fishery boundaries. With the absence of foreign fishing many Canadian and U.S fishing trawlers took their place and the number of cod kept diminishing past a point of recovery. Many local fishermen noticed the drastic decrease of cod and tried to inform local government officials. In 1986, scientists did a review of calculations and data after which they determined, in order to conserve cod fishing the total allowable catch rate had to be cut in half. However, even