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The Lobster War was an obscure conflict between France and Brazil in the early 1960s. It began when France wanted access to large populations of spiny lobsters off the coast of Mauritania, which had recently gained independence from France. Since France could no longer freely take resources from its former colony, it turned to lobster populations off Brazil's coast instead. This launched a dispute between the two countries over fishing rights that escalated over several years. France repeatedly sent lobster fishing fleets with naval escorts to Brazil's waters, which Brazil saw as aggression. At one point France justified taking lobsters by arguing that since they jump along the seafloor, they should be classified as fish, not shellfish. Brazil rebutted this and eventually the two sides took the dispute to an international tribunal, which ruled in Brazil's favor. However, French ships kept illegally fishing, leading to further tensions. The "war" never turned into outright combat but there were provocative naval exercises on both sides. It remained a Cold War standoff over lobster fishing rights until the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty later resolved such maritime disputes.

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