The European Union’s fisheries policy is a tricky file. Agricultural and fisheries policies are among the most controversial issues in the European Union. Although the share of GNP is limited, agricultural and fisheries policies and discussions are prominent. Wars, conflicts, and European dispute settlement over fisheries date back to the 12th century.
It is no coincidence that one of the first disputes settled by the International Court of Justice in The Hague concerned a fisheries dispute between the United Kingdom and Norway. The origin of the conflict went back to the 17th century, when British fishermen made the first incursions in the waters near the Norwegian coast.
The question was whether the lines laid down by a Decree in 1935 for the purpose of delimiting the Norwegian fisheries zone were drawn correctly. The breadth of the Norwegian territorial sea belt was not an issue and was acknowledged by both countries. The conflict showed (economic) sentiments rooted in an agricultural past and a fisheries tradition.
The conflict even provoked the arrest of British trawlers in 1948 and 1949 by the Norwegian navy. The International Court of Justice resolved this conflict peacefully (Fisheries, United Kingdom vs Norway, 18 December 1951, C.I.J. Recueil, 1951, p. 116).