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Over time, "the Faroese area" has gradually increased in size in accordance with internationally accepted fishery limits, with some consequences for local research concepts.
In 1903 Denmark and Great Britain agreed upon a 3 nautical miles fishery limit for the Faroes, and this was maintained until 1955, when a provisional arrangement extended it to 6 miles. A 12 nautical miles limit was set up in 1959, although retaining some fishing rights for British trawlers as close as 6 miles from the islands. Faroese fishermen insisted, however, on new negotiations in order to change this situation, and when these did not lead to agreement, Denmark declared the 12 miles fishery limit to be fully in force from 1964. In accordance with the practice of other North Atlantic nations, the present 200 nautical miles Faroese Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was erected in 1978 (Madsen 1990).
The southern edge of the EEZ more or less follows the 60EN latitude. Iceland lies 450 km to the west and the Shetland Islands (GB) 300 km to the east; accordingly, the EEZ limits are the midlines to these countries. To the north, in the Norwegian Sea, the 200 miles are in effect.
The EEZ comprises about 274000 sqkm, with roughly 75000 sqkm within the 1000 m depth contour, where by far the largest fishery takes place and most research has been done.
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