Turbot War

Turbot War

The location of the bulk of the conflict
DateMarch 9,1995–April 16, 1995
Location
Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the English Channel
Result
  • Canadian position recognized[1][2]
  • In 1996, Canada agrees not to apply its laws to Spanish fishing vessels with criteria of extraterritoriality.
Belligerents
 Canada
 United Kingdom
 Ireland		  Spain
 European Union
Commanders and leaders
Jean Chrétien
Brian Tobin
Earle McCurdy
Lawrence E. Murray		 Felipe González
Eduardo Serra
Javier Solana
Emma Bonino
( European Commission)
Casualties and losses
None 1 fishing vessel captured
1 British fishing vessel mistakenly captured by French authorities

The Turbot War (known in Spain as Guerra del Fletán; French: Guerre du flétan) was an international fishing dispute and bloodless conflict between Canada and Spain (with the European Union) and their respective supporters.

On 9 March 1995, Canadian officials from the Canadian Fisheries Patrol vessel Cape Roger boarded the Spanish fishing trawler Estai[3] from Galicia in international waters 220 nautical miles (410 km; 250 mi) off Canada's East Coast after they had fired three 50-calibre machine-gun bursts over its bow.[4] They arrested the trawler's crew, then forced the Estai to a Canadian harbour. Canada claimed that European Union factory ships were illegally overfishing Greenland halibut (also known as Greenland turbot) in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) regulated area on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, just outside Canada's declared 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

  1. ^ "Province welcomes Canadian victory in Turbot War case". Executive Council. Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  2. ^ Springer, Allen L. (1997). "The Canadian Turbot War with Spain: Unilateral State Action in Defense of Environmental Interests". The Journal of Environment & Development. 6: 26–60. doi:10.1177/107049659700600103. S2CID 154850393.
  3. ^ Springer, Allen L. (March 1997). "The Canadian Turbot War with Spain: Unilateral State Action in Defense of Environmental Interests". The Journal of Environment & Development. 6 (1): 26–60. doi:10.1177/107049659700600103. ISSN 1070-4965. S2CID 154850393.
  4. ^ Harris, Michael (2013). Lament for an Ocean: The Collapse of the Atlantic Cod Fishery. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. 12. ISBN 9780771039584.