Do lobsters swim, walk or jump? The question that almost causes a large -scale conflict between France and Brazil
The lobsters They walk, for that they have ten legs. That is known by anyone who has seen one close, even if it was in a marsquery. Walking, in legal terms, was what almost unleashed a War between two countriesNot because a crustacean has done anything special, but because there were too many interests about his way of moving.
And in full Cold warwith half the world in tension, it occurred to someone to say that if a lobster moves jumping then it is a fish. And for that detail, Brazil and France They ended up facing ships, airplanes and threats of military intervention in the Lobster war.
Walking or swimming: the debate that unleashed a diplomatic storm
To understand how two naval powers ended up mobilizing aircraft carrier for a discussion about shellfish, you have to go back to the early sixties. The coastal region of the Brazilian northeast, rich in fishery resources, had been attracted to foreign fleets for some time.
First it was Japan, who chose to buy the product instead of capturing it. Then the French arrived, specifically from Brittany, with boats that were supposed to investigate. In March 1961 they obtained a permission limited to three ships. At the end of April illegal catches had already been discovered. Instead of collaborating, they sent more ships.
The Brazilian Navywhich at that time had hardly enough means to resist half an hour of real combat, began to intercept fishing. On January 2, 1962, the corvette Ipiranga He arrested Cassiopée for slaughter without authorization. Then more came: the Plomarchhe Folgorhe Françoise Christine… all fishing without permission.
The French explanation was that lobsters swimmed because they jumpedtherefore they did not belong to anyone. The Brazilian argument was that they moved through the seabed without jumping, and that made them part of their continental platform.
The tartu against Paraná: tension without shooting in the South Atlantic
The voltage levels were climbing to unusual limits. Charles de Gaulleimmersed in a foreign and expansive tone foreign policy, replied by sending the destroyer Tartu to the Brazilian coast. From Brazil, the president João Goulart activated a large -scale mobilization.
It was a complicated operation, in which ships with mechanical failures, fuel shortage and lack of ammunition tried to appear that everything was under control. It was so much the effort that one of the flagships, the cruise Tamandaréit only had four of its eight operational boilers, and the Barroso He directly had no projectiles for his main cannons.
For several weeks, air and naval patrols maintained control over Brazilian waters, intercepting messages, following movements and performing intimidation maneuvers. The culminating moment came when the destroyer Paraná visually located at Tartu.
There was exchange of signals, maximum tension and mutual surveillance. None shot. The next day, the French began to retire. He Tartu was replaced by the Paul Goffenyof less offensive capacity. It was the first clear symptom that France turned back.
The most repeated phrase in Brazilian offices during those days was not written in any official statement, but is cited in several versions of history. According to some diplomatic memories, it was pronounced by Carlos Alves de Souzathe Brazilian ambassador to Paris: “Brazil is not a serious country.” Others attribute it to De Gaulle. Be that as it may, it remained as an example of the absurd tension that can be there when there is sovereignty at stake and crustaceans through.
Thus ended the lobster war
In December 1964, both governments reached a agreement. France would receive Limited Limit Licfish For five years, giving part of the product to the Brazilian authorities. The territorial waters of Brazil were extended unilaterally. And the lobster, finally, was recognized as national resource on its continental platform.
What began as a technical discussion ended up reinforcing the international position of Brazil in the defense of its seas.
It was a political victory, but also a clear example of what can happen when national pride with seafood is gathered. Because in the lobster war, the strategy was not to shoot first, but in enduring the guy until the other got tired of fishing in others. And Brazil, without Gauling resources, knew how to play their cards.
