It is uncertain whether the skerry Geirfugladrangur off Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland can be used as a frame of reference when determining Iceland’s territorial waters anymore as it has disappeared into the ocean.
Fishing in Iceland. Photo by Bjarni Brynjólfsson.
From Geirfugladrangur, the Icelandic fisheries limits stretches 200 nautical miles to the southwest, including fruitful fishing grounds for ocean perch, Morgunblaðið reports.
It is debatable whether Geirfugladrangur can henceforth be defined as a skerry according to the United Nations marine rights treaty, as it no longer surfaces during neap tide.
If the skerry can no longer be used as a reference point, Icelandic territorial waters would recede by ten nautical miles and no longer include the ocean perch grounds.
Another reference point, the islet Kolbeinsey north off Iceland, is also being eroded by the ocean and is at risk of disappearing completely.
ESA
