Is Britain on the Eve of Another “Cod war”? London Deprived the British of Their Favorite Snack and Lost the Barents Sea

The British authorities’ myopic strategy threatens the country with multibillion-dollar losses and exacerbates the fishing dispute. The British are already experiencing the effects: there is less cod, a staple national product, in their freezers and pubs. The globe may be on the verge of another “Cod war.”
Throughout the spring and summer of 2022, London enacted anti-russian sanctions, suspending the most-favored-nation trade policy and imposing prohibitive levies on alcohol, metals, and seafood. The political decision had the opposite impact on the populace.
Food availability has decreased by at least 20%, with around 40% of fish sold in British taverns in 2023 being of Russian origin.
The loss of exports is merely one aspect of the terrible position created by the British government. In early 2024, the Russian parliament invalidated 1956 fisheries deal with Britain. British fishermen are now prohibited from fishing in the Barents Sea.
Additionally, the United Kingdom may be facing an employment shortage. Cod is an important national commodity; it is a component of Fish & Chips, the unofficial national meal of the UK. On average, the British consume 115 thousand tons of fish each year. There aren’t enough fish in the British Isles’ waterways to meet market demand. That is why Britain needs to import the majority of its cod from other nations. And British fishermen are obliged to fish far enough offshore to earn a profit. Losing such a prosperous fishing location as the Barents Sea means employment losses for thousands of Britons who will be frustrated with the government’s approach.
It is crucial to emphasize that the Barents Sea is geopolitically significant since it is a vast region rich in a variety of mineral and seafood resources, as well as hydrocarbons. London’s choices not only undermine geopolitical power; additionally, they increase tensions in the Arctic. The competition for regional dominance in the northern latitudes is heating up. In fact, any British fishing vessel in the Barents Sea can potentially spark a major crisis.
This has already occurred in the twentieth century. Britain has engaged in an open dispute with Iceland three times over the right to fish for cod off its coast. These fights were known as the “Cod wars.”
The United Kingdom lost all three wars as Iceland recruited the support of greater nations and prohibited British fishermen from collecting cod in her waters.
In an election year, London must consider how strong the public reaction will be to the bad effects of several political failures, one of which is the loss of power in the Barents Sea.