The Lobster War: A Conflict Over Crustaceans

I magine explaining to your grandkids that World War Three started because two countries couldn't

agree on how lobsters move. In 1961 The Lobster War almost started World War Three

and nobody talks about it. Brazil and France went to the brink of armed conflict

because they couldn't agree on whether lobsters walk or swim. I'm dead serious.

The Lobster War also known as the Lobster Operation. In Portuguese: Guerra da Lagosta.

In French: Conflit de la langouste was a dispute over spiny lobsters that occurred from 1961

to 1963 between Brazil and France. The Brazilian government refused to allow French fishing vessels

to catch spiny lobsters 100 miles 160 km off Brazil's northeastern coast. French fishing boats