Gylfi Geirsson and Sigurbjorn Svavarsson cut British fishing trawl wires and dodged Royal Navy frigates on board small Icelandic coast guard vessels 50 years ago, using guerrilla-style tactics to keep foreign fleets out of their waters.

Iceland won the series of confrontations known as the Cod Wars, and control of those waters became the foundation of the volcanic island¡¯s economy.

Half a century later, the fear of losing control is at the heart of an Aug.?29 referendum on whether to reopen membership talks with the European Union.