At first the dispute was about whether Iceland would be recognized as a coastal state concerning the macerel stock but Iceland had consistently demanded to be considered as a coastal state ever since the first agreement was made between these three nations concerning the management of the macerel stock in the year 1999, but was never accepted.
Í fyrstu var deilt um hvort Ísland yrði talið sem strandríki varðandi makrílstofninn og krafðist Ísland þess að vera talið sem strandríki, allt frá fyrstu samningum þessara þjóða um makrílinn sem gerður var 1999, en var alltaf neitað.