A Whiff of Grape

Pish for thee, Iceland dog! Thou prick-eared cur of Iceland!

--Shakespeare, Henry V

Elizabethan epithets and their modern equivalents resounded in the ancient British trawler ports of Grimsby and Hull last week, and the Queen's ministers sent off an ultimatum to Reykjavik that called up memories of gunboats and a whiff of grape. Reason: Iceland last week proclaimed, effective Sept. 1, a twelve-mile fishing limit off its coasts, a zone drawn from the outermost points instead of bending like a ribbon to follow the contours of the coast.

"Her Majesty's government," said the British Foreign Office in its stiffest note since Suez, "must point out that it would be their duty to prevent any unlawful attempt to interfere with British fishing vessels on the high seas." (An international conference last April failed to agree on a three, six-or twelve-mile limit, leaving it up to what each nation can enforce.) Although Iceland had not yet talked of using gunboats itself, "Her Majesty's government," continued the note, "finds it difficult to believe that the Icelandic government would use force against British fishing vessels in order to secure compliance" with a decree both "unilateral" and "against international law."

This was strong talk between two NATO allies. But for generations 25% of all British fishermen's catch has been taken just beyond the three-mile limit, in the haddock-and cod-crammed waters of the Icelandic shelf. At stake is nothing less than the traditionally cheap fish-'n'-chips fare of the great seafaring nation. Iceland explained it acted only from "the need to conserve" the cod and haddock. Icelanders themselves now net 48% of the catch (up 17% since before the war), and it furnishes 90% of their exports. Biggest customer: Soviet Russia, which last year bought $20 million worth.

The British, their dander up, were convinced that hostile anglers are fishing in Iceland's troubled waters. Iceland's Fisheries and Trade Minister Ludvik Joseps-son is a Communist, and forced the twelve-mile limit through the country's coalition Cabinet against the objection of more NATO-minded ministers. The Soviet ambassador, who has signed agreements with Comrade Josepsson to buy about a third of Iceland's catch, was quick to proclaim Russian support of the new twelve-mile decree. The British Admiralty accordingly let it be known that four new frigates might shortly be added to the arctic fishing protection squadron.

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