Canada-Europe Flap Over Atlantic Fish Intensifies : Environment: The dispute includes seizure of a Spanish boat. Ottawa vows to save seafood stocks by any means.

Canada’s self-designated role as enforcer of fish conservation on the high seas has triggered an escalating confrontation with the European Union.

It already has featured machine-gun fire on the North Atlantic, Canadian seizure of a Spanish fishing boat in international waters and hyperventilated rhetoric on two continents.

The Europeans call the Canadians “pirates.” The Canadians accuse the Spanish of “fish genocide.” On Tuesday, EU officials thundered on about Canada’s “wave of terror,” and Spain imposed visa restrictions on Canadian tourists.

Meanwhile, Brian Tobin, Canada’s top fisheries official, warned the Spanish that he will “take whatever enforcement measures are necessary” if their fishing fleet returns to contested waters.

This dispute is typical of increasing international conflicts over dwindling fish stocks worldwide. In this case, what the Canadian media have dubbed the “Fish War” is a battle over a big, flat, slimy bottom-dweller: the turbot, or Greenland halibut, an ingredient in frozen fish sticks and one of the few remaining viable ground fish species left in the waters near Canada’s Atlantic coast.

This country’s East Coast fishing industry has been devastated by overfishing in the last decade; beginning in 1994, the government claimed the right to police international waters to protect those fish that remain.

Canada’s logic is simple: If fish don’t recognize the 200-mile limit, why should we?

This has won Tobin the applause of the Canadian fishing industry and conservationists, but it has damaged this nation’s reputation as a reliable trustee of international law.

The current disagreement began Feb. 1 when the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization, which sets voluntary quotas for member nations in international waters, granted a 16,300-metric-ton turbot allowance to Canada for 1995, reserving only 3,200 tons for EU nations. The EU said it would ignore the quota and permit its member nations to catch up to 19,000 tons.

Canada replied with a promise to seize foreign ships trawling for turbot just outside its 200-mile limit near Newfoundland. More than a dozen Spanish boats--whose crews are considered among the most aggressive on the planet--took up station in the disputed waters.

On Thursday, Canadian Fisheries and Coast Guard vessels closed in on the Spanish fishing trawler Estai, dodging other Spanish ships that tried to interfere and firing a burst of 50-millimeter machine-gun fire across its bow before boarding.

Brought into harbor at St. John’s, Newfoundland, under armed escort Sunday, the Estai was docked and its crew installed in the city’s finest hotel by the Spanish government. The Spanish and EU ambassadors to Canada were present to register their indignation.

Capt. Enrique Davila Gonzales, who along with his ambassador dodged a couple of eggs tossed by the crowd en route to his first court appearance, is free on bail. Bond for the ship also has been set.

But EU officials regard the seizure as a violation of international law and demand the unconditional release of ship and crew as a prelude to any talks on fishing rights. Brussels also has threatened sanctions against Canada.

The Spanish have dispatched a lightly armed patrol boat to the North Atlantic and suggest a more formidable navy frigate is standing by. Spanish Foreign Minister Javier Solana hinted of a possible break in diplomatic relations.

In Canada, the seizure has been a new boost for the already popular government of politically adroit Prime Minister Jean Chretien. The usually mild Chretien even showed a bit of machismo at a Liberal Party meeting in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the day after the seizure. “You have chosen a government in Ottawa that will stand for Canadians,” he told a cheering crowd.

For Canadians who fish the Atlantic and their families, the seizure is seen as a gesture of solidarity. The near-disappearance from Canadian waters of ground fish species such as cod and haddock has thrown tens of thousands out of work, and many are embittered that foreign fishing fleets continue operating just beyond the 200-mile limit.

Tobin, meanwhile, has sought to shift the focus of the dispute away from the legality of Canada’s action and toward Spanish fishing practices. He told reporters that 79% of fish recovered from the Estai were shorter than 14 inches and that some were no bigger than the palm of a man’s hand.

“That’s a baby, that’s a juvenile, that’s an animal that should never be taken out of the water,” Tobin said, noting that a fully grown turbot measures 24 to 28 inches. The long-term effect of harvesting immature fish is to prevent reproduction and replenishment of the stock, he added.

The only way to net such small fish, he continued, would be to use a smaller-mesh net than is allowed under international rules.