"victory At Sea"

Canada has emerged as the winner in the turbot war but the methods used could harm its image as Mr. Peacekeeper.

Brian Tobin's turbot war is over. You could almost hear the gears grinding over the weekend as the jubilant federal government switched to peace mode in the manipulation of public opinion over the dispute.

For diplomatic reasons, the gloating is being kept to a minimum, but the message is clear. Tobin's combination of gunboats and diplomacy have delivered turbot in our time.

Have they really?

Perhaps, although compromise deals on conservation have a certain fishy aroma, given Canada's own history of sacrificing cod stocks to preserve peace among the various beneficiaries of the fishing industry. We'll only know for sure if and when the turbot survive the new arrangements.

But as Spanish anger suggests, Canada and conservation came out ahead on several counts.

Provisions for inspections of trawlers on the nose and tail of the Grand Banks will, if effective in practice, make it much more difficult for the fishing fleet as a whole to take more than the catch nations have agreed to.

And, by reducing the suspicion others are cheating, enforcement of fishing rules will reduce the evil-take-the- hindmost compulsion to do so.

In addition, Canada has clearly gained a good deal of new support for the cause of conservation, and against overfishing nations. This will stand it in good stead in any renewed confrontation on the high seas, and in negotiations for better international law on fish stocks that straddle nations 200 mile limits.

Also, perhaps most important, our country has begun to put some distance between itself and its shameless overfishing past. If stocks of turbot are wiped out in coming years, Canada will be relatively innocent, for once, and the guilty parties and policies will be even more clear for all to see.

If the Grand Banks are ever to regain their bountiful place in Canadian life, a reformed Canada leading an improved international consensus on conservation will be essential.

So then: Canadians can feel moderately good about the deal, pending a closer look at the fine print when the official text is released this week.

But what about the un-Canadian methods by which it was achieved? Threats of warships and seizure of vessels on the high seas don't exactly fit with our image as Mr. Peacekeeper.

In future, will combatants accuse us of a double standard when we urge them to settle their differences without violence? If Canada is ready to act unilaterally over a bunch of fish, how can we disparage Bosnian Muslims for using guns to save their cities?

Perhaps neutral mediation will be more difficult for us. If so, Canada, if not the world, will be the poorer as a result.

But if thoughtful Canadians find Tobin's bellicose methods disquieting, they must ask themselves another question: Would Canada have achieved anything without them?

Probably not - at least not quickly enough to keep the rest of the turbot out of Spanish frying pans. And that should be food for thought for Mr. Peacekeeper as he turns back to other people's fights.