Editing Cod Wars (section)

===Until 1949===
By the end of the 14th century, fishing boats from the east coast of England, then as now home to most of the English fishing fleet, were sailing to Icelandic waters in search of these catches; their landings grew so abundant as to cause political friction between England and [[Denmark]], who ruled Iceland at the time. The Danish [[Eric of Pomerania|King Eric]] banned all Icelandic trade with England in 1414 and complained to his English counterpart, [[Henry V of England|Henry V]], about [[Overfishing|the depletion of fishing stocks]] off the island. Restrictions on British fishing passed by Parliament were generally ignored and unenforced, leading to violence and the [[Anglo-Hanseatic War|Anglo-Hanseatic War (1469–1474)]]. Diplomats resolved these disputes through agreements that allowed British ships to fish Icelandic waters with seven-year licences, a provision that was struck from the [[Treaty of Utrecht (1474)|Treaty of Utrecht]] when it was presented to the Icelandic [[Althing]] for [[ratification]] in 1474.<ref name="Medieval fishiing">{{cite book|last1=Gardiner|first1=Mark|url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/106203799/The_character_of_commercial_fishing_in_Icelandic_waters_in_the_fifteenth_century.pdf|title=Cod and Herring: The Archaeology and History of Medieval Sea Fishing|date=2016|publisher=[[Oxbow Books]]|isbn=9781785702396|editor1-last=Barrett|editor1-first=James Harold|location=Oxford|pages=80–90|chapter=8: The character of commercial fishing in Icelandic waters in the fifteenth century|access-date=4 March 2020|editor2-last=Orton|editor2-first=David C.|archive-date=23 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220923112359/https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/106203799/The_character_of_commercial_fishing_in_Icelandic_waters_in_the_fifteenth_century.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> This started a centuries-long series of intermittent disputes between the two countries.<ref name="FishFights2019" /> From the early 16th century onward, English sailors and fishermen were a major presence in the waters off Iceland.<ref name="Þorsteinsson1976">{{Cite book|last=Þorsteinsson|first=Björn|title=Tíu þorskastríð 1415–1976|year=1976}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Thór|first=Jón Th.|title=British trawlers and Iceland: 1919–1976|year=1995|publisher=University of Gothenburg|page=9}}</ref>

With the increases in range of fishing that were enabled by [[steam engine|steam power]] in the late 19th century, boat owners and skippers felt pressure to exploit new grounds. Their large catches in Icelandic waters attracted more regular voyages across the [[North Atlantic]]. In 1893, the [[Danish government]], which then governed Iceland and the [[Faroe Islands]], claimed a fishing limit of {{convert|50|nmi|km|abbr=on}} around their shores. British trawler owners disputed the claim and continued to send their ships to the waters near Iceland. The British government did not recognise the Danish claim on the grounds that setting such a precedent would lead to similar claims by the nations around the [[North Sea]], which would damage the British fishing industry.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

In 1896, the United Kingdom made an agreement with Denmark for British vessels to use any Icelandic port for shelter if they stowed their gear and trawl nets. In return, British vessels were not to fish in [[Faxa Bay]] east of a line from Ílunýpa, a promontory near [[Keflavík]] to Þormóðssker ([https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?params=64.4334_N_-22.3092_E_ 43.43° N, 22.30° W]).{{Citation needed|date=November 2008}}

With many British trawlers being charged and fined by Danish gunboats for fishing illegally within the {{convert|13|nmi|km|abbr=on|0}} limit, which the British government refused to recognise, the [[British press]] began to enquire why the Danish action against British interests was allowed to continue without intervention by the [[Royal Navy]]. The British made a show of naval force ([[gunboat diplomacy]]) in 1896 and 1897.<ref name="auto" />

In April 1899, the steam trawler ''Caspian'' was fishing off the Faroe Islands when a Danish [[gunboat]] tried to arrest her for allegedly fishing illegally inside the limits. The trawler refused to stop and was fired upon first with blank shells and then with live ammunition. Eventually, the trawler was caught, but before the skipper, Charles Henry Johnson, left his ship to go aboard the Danish gunboat, he ordered the mate to make a dash for it after he went on to the Danish ship. The ''Caspian'' set off at full speed. The gunboat fired several shots at the unarmed boat but could not catch up with the trawler, which returned, heavily damaged, to [[Grimsby]], [[England]]. On board the Danish gunboat, the skipper of the ''Caspian'' was lashed to the mast. A court held at [[Thorshavn]] convicted him on several counts including [[illegal fishing]] and attempted assault, and he was jailed for 30 days.<ref>Bale, B. (2010), ''Memories of the: Lincolnshire Fishing Industry'', Berkshire: Countryside Books, p. 35.</ref>

The 'Anglo-Danish Territorial Waters Agreement' of 1901 set a {{convert|3|nmi|km|0|abbr=on}} territorial waters limit, measured narrowly, around each party's coastlines: this applied to Iceland as (at the time) part of Denmark and had a term of 50 years.<ref name="auto">{{Cite journal|title = How 'cod war' came: the origins of the Anglo-Icelandic fisheries dispute, 1958–61*|journal = Historical Research|date = 1 November 2004|issn = 1468-2281|pages = 543–574|volume = 77|issue = 198|doi = 10.1111/j.1468-2281.2004.00222.x|first = Gudni Thorlacius|last = Jóhannesson}}</ref><ref name = Cabinet/>

The Icelandic fisheries grew in importance for the British fishing industry around the end of the 19th century.<ref name="auto"/> The reduction in fishing activity brought about by the hostilities of the [[First World War]] effectively ended the dispute for a time.{{Citation needed|date=October 2015}}

While data is incomplete for the prewar period, one historian argues that the Icelandic fishing grounds were 'very important' to the British fishing industry as a whole.<ref>{{Cite book|title = British Trawlers and Iceland: 1919–1976|last = Thór|first = Jón Th.|year = 1995|pages = 48–50}}</ref> Data from 1919 to 1938 showed a significant increase in the British total catches in Icelandic waters.<ref>{{Cite book|title = British Trawlers and Iceland: 1919–1976|last = Thór|year = 1995|pages = 68, 79}}</ref> The British catches in Iceland were more than twice the combined catches of all other grounds of the British distant water fleet.<ref>{{Cite book|title = British Trawlers and Iceland: 1919–1976|last = Thór|year = 1995|page = 87}}</ref> Icelanders grew increasingly dismayed at the British presence.<ref>{{Cite book|title = British Trawlers and Iceland: 1919–1976|last = Thór|year = 1995|pages = 91–107}}</ref>