Chapter 39

11366 & 7 Vict., cap. 79. “An Act to carry into Effect the Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the French concerning the Fisheries in the Seas between the British Islands and France,” 22nd August 1843. The mesh of trawl-nets, the length of the trawl-beam, the weight of the trawl-irons and of the ground-rope, the mesh of herring, mackerel, “bratt,” and trammel nets, were in no case to be over or under a specified standard. A series of detailed regulations for oyster-fishing was also made, including a close-time and a minimum size. This Act was repealed by the Sea Fisheries Act, 1868 (the Convention Act), 31 & 32 Vict., c. 45, but it was revived by Parliament in 1877 (40 & 41 Vict., c. 42), the Convention of 1867 not having been ratified by France.1137Reports of the Commissioners for the Herring Fishery, 1839, 1840, 1841.1138It was denounced in the Boulogne Chamber of Commerce as the greatest blunder the French Government had ever made, and many complaints were received from French fishermen of their boats having been captured or pursued by British cruisers. Deseille,Histoire de la Pêche à Boulogne-sur-Mer, 229. The French cruisers were no less active in apprehending British transgressors.Parl. Papers, Sess. 1854-5, 459.1139Mitchell,The Herring: Its Natural History and National Importance, 243.1140The Board pointed out that the fishermen of other foreign countries were not disposed to observe the limits laid down in the Anglo-French convention, specifying Dutch as well as Belgians, and that the naval superintendents were perplexed from the want of fixed instructions on this point. The letter from the Board of Trade was as follows (Report of the Commissioners for the year ended 5th January 1849):—“Office of Committee of Privy-Council for Trade,“Whitehall,14th September 1848.“Sir,—With reference to your letter of 4th ultimo, requesting, on the part of the Commissioners of British Fisheries, to know whether Foreign Fishermen are permitted to fish within three miles of the Shore; I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy-Council for Trade, to inform you, that it is the opinion of this Board, that no such permission is recognised by the British Government, and accordingly, that it is the duty of the Superintendents of British Fisheries, to warn Dutch, Belgian, or any other Foreigners, as well as French Fishermen, to keep outside of the limits above mentioned.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,(Sd.)Denis le Marchant.The HonourableB. F. Primrose, Secretary,Board of Fisheries, Edinburgh.”1141See p. 461.1142Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the Belgians relative to Fishery. Signed at London, March 22, 1852. “Art. I. Belgian subjects shall enjoy, in regard to fishery along the coast of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the treatment of the most favoured foreign nation. In like manner, British subjects shall enjoy, in regard to fishery along the coast of the Kingdom of Belgium, the treatment of the most favoured foreign nation.” The convention was to endure for seven years, and it was to remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months after either party notified to the other its intention of terminating it.1143Reports by the Commissioners for the British Fisheries, 1848-51.Parl. Papers, Sess. 1856.1144Reports of the Commissioners for the British Fisheries, 1852, 1853, 1862.1145Report of the Commissioners appointed to Enquire into the Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom, I. lxix. (1866).1146Convention between Her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, relative to the Fisheries in the seas between Great Britain and France.Signed at Paris, 11th November 1867. Art. I. “British fishermen shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark, along the whole extent of the coasts of the British Islands; and French fishermen shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark along the whole extent of the coast of France, the only exception to this rule being that part of the coast of France which lies between Cape Carteret and Point Meinga. The distance of three miles fixed as the general limit for the exclusive right of fishery upon the coasts of the two countries shall, with respect to bays, the mouths of which do not exceed ten miles in width, be measured from a straight line drawn from headland to headland. The miles mentioned in the present Convention are geographical miles, whereof sixty make a degree of latitude.” In neither of the conventions was it expressly said that the ten-mile closing-line for bays was to be measured from low-water mark of the headlands, but it was so declared in the Act of 1843, 6 & 7 Vict., c. 79.114731 & 32 Vict., c. 45.1148London Gazette, 9th Feb. 1869. C. E. Fryer,The Relation of the State with Fishermen and Fisheries. Parl. Papers, Commerc., 24 (1882), p. 1.114946 & 47 Vict., c. 22, sec. 30.11506 & 7 Vict., c. 79, s. vi.11515 & 6 Vict., c. 106.1152Parl. Papers, Sess. 1867-68, Fisheries (Ireland), 135.115331 & 32 Vict., c. 45, s. 67.1154Report from the Select Committee on Oyster Fisheries, 8, 166 (1876).1155Had the coasts of the United States been visited by British fishermen, it is not unlikely that the Government of that country would have been more willing to admit the ordinary interpretation with regard to bays. British vessels do not, however, fish on the coasts of the United States, and the United States fishermen, having exhausted the once productive waters of their own coasts of the New England States, go to catch a large part of their fish to the waters on the coasts of British North America, and hence it is to their interest that the limit of exclusive fishing on the latter should be as small as they can get it made. The position is very similar to that of the English trawlers who, having impoverished the North Sea, now go to foreign coasts, as Iceland, to keep up the supplies.See p. 707.1156Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, signed at Washington, 1st June 1854, Art. i., ii. I. “It is agreed by the high contracting parties that in addition to the liberty secured to the United States’ fishermen by the above-mentioned convention of October 20, 1818, of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabitants of the United States shall have, in common with the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward’s Island, and of the several islands thereunto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the coasts and shores of those Colonies and the islands thereof, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in the peaceable use of any part of the said coast in their occupancy for the same purpose.” The second article accorded to Canadian fishermen similar privileges in the waters of the United States, north of 36 degrees N. latitude.1157Before this arrangement was made, the British Government, on 12th April 1866, instructed the Admiralty “that American fishermen should not be interfered with, either by notice or otherwise, unless they are found within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of a bay or creek, which is less than ten geographical miles in width, in conformity with the arrangement made with France in 1839.”115827th June 1870. “The limits within which you will, if necessary, exercise the power to exclude United States’ fishermen, or to detain American fishing vessels or boats, are for the present to be exceptional.... Her Majesty’s Government are clearly of opinion that, by the Convention of 1818, the United States have renounced the right of fishing, not only within three miles of the Colonial shores, but within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of any British bay or creek. It is, however, the wish of Her Majesty’s Government neither to concede, nor for the present to enforce, any rights in this respect which are in their nature open to any serious question. Until further instructed, therefore, you will not interfere with any American fishermen, unless found within three miles of the shore, or within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of a bay or creek, which, though in parts more than six miles wide, is less than six geographical miles in width at its mouth. In the case of any other bay—as Bay des Chaleurs, for example—you will not interfere with any United States’ fishing vessel or boat, or any American fishermen, unless they are found within three miles of the shore.”1159Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, signed at Washington, 8th May 1871, Art. xviii., xix.1160Parl. Papers, No. 1 (1888), (C.—5262).1161The number of American fishing vessels which take the licenses for Canadian waters is usually about 100, the fees aggregating 10,000 or 12,000 dollars per annum.Ann. Reports, Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa.1162The three-mile limit is measured from the ten-mile arc.1163Mr Phelps to the Marquis of Salisbury, 3rd August 1887, enclosing ad interim arrangement proposed by the United States’ Government, with “Observations” by the British Government and Reply of the Government of the United States.1164Gordon,15th Ann. Rep. Assoc. for Reform of Law of Nations(8). 1893.1165Report by the Commissioners for the Herring Fishery, Scotland, 1869, p. 4;Report by the Commissioners of the Fishery Board, Scotland, 1876, p. 7.1166Report of W. H. Higgin, Esq., Q.C., on the Outrages committed by Foreign upon English Fishermen in the North Sea.Parl. Papers(C.—2878), 1881.1167After all, however, the damage from the monetary point of view was not very great, amounting, according to the detailed information collected by Mr Higgin, to £4372, 3s. over the years 1870-1880, or at the rate of about £400 per annum.1168Correspondence respecting the Conference at The Hague and the Convention of the 6th May 1882, relative to the Police of the Fisheries in the North Sea.Parl. Papers, Commercial, No. 24, 1882.1169M. Barthélemy St Hilaire to Lord Lyons, 2nd July 1881; M. de Freycinet to M. Challemel-Lacour, 2nd March 1882.1170“The fishermen of each country shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark along the whole extent of the coasts of their respective countries and of the dependent islands. As regards bays, the entrances of which do not exceed ten miles in width, the distance of three miles shall be measured from a straight line joining the two extreme points of the bay. The present article shall not in any way prejudice the right of free navigation and anchorage in territorial waters accorded to vessels of all sizes, provided they conform to the special police regulations enacted by the Powers to whom the shore belongs.”1171Messrs Kennedy and Trevor to Mr Farrer, Oct. 31, 1881. In the Anglo-French convention of 1867 the British negotiators unsuccessfully pressed for the insertion of the words, “the islands ... and their dependencies.” M. de Freycinet to M. Challemel-Lacour, 2nd March 1882.1172VideFiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1907-1908, p. 178. Kjobenhavn, 1908.1173Report on the Sea Fisheries of England and Wales, 1879. The British delegate laid stress on one of the conclusions reached by Mr Buckland, to the effect that “nothing that man has done, and nothing that man can do, can affect the supply of herrings in the seas.” Even if this were proved for the herring in the absolute form in which it is expressed,—and it is clearly illogical and unwarrantable to pledge the future in this loose way,—it obviously might not, and in point of fact does not, apply to the great bulk of the fishes that would have been affected by the German suggestion.1174International Convention for the Purpose of Regulating the Police of the Fisheries in the North Sea outside Territorial Waters.Signed at The Hague, 6th May 1882.1175Sir H. Rumbold to Earl Granville, 16th March 1882; H.M. Plenipotentiaries to the same, 8th May 1882.1176The boundaries specified are, on the north, the parallel of the 61st degree of latitude; on the east and south, the coast of Norway between the above parallel and Lindesnæs Lighthouse, a straight line thence across the Skagerrack to Hantsholm Lighthouse in Denmark, the coasts of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, as far as Cape Gris Nez Lighthouse; on the west, a straight line from Gris Nez Lighthouse to the easternmost lighthouse at the North Foreland in Kent, the eastern coasts of England and Scotland, a line from Duncansby Head in Caithness to the southern point of South Ronaldsha in the Orkneys, the eastern coasts of the Orkney Islands, a straight line from North Ronaldsha Lighthouse to Sumburgh Head Lighthouse in the Shetland Islands, the eastern coasts of these islands, and the meridian of the North Unst Lighthouse as far as the parallel of the 61st degree of latitude. The Dutch proposed the 60th degree of latitude as the northern limit, and the British the 62nd degree.117746 & 47 Vict., c. 22. An Act to carry into effect an International Convention concerning the Fisheries in the North Sea, and to amend the laws relating to British Sea Fisheries.1178Messrs Kennedy and Trevor to Mr Farrer, 31st Oct. 1881.Doc. cit.1179Dispatch to Hon. E. Ashley, 17th Nov. 1881; Earl Granville to Her Majesty’s Representatives at Paris, Brussels, The Hague, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, 6th December 1881.1180A case occurred in 1908 in which the master of an English trawler, theTaurus, was convicted in a German court for trawling within the three-mile limit on the German coast, and the case was appealed on the ground that the place was outside the territorial waters, and was so shown on the English fishery charts. It was found, however, that the three-mile line on these charts did not take into account the dependent banks, whereas the German charts did take them into account, the limit running in some cases six or seven miles from the coast. It may be mentioned that as considerable parts of the Goodwin Sands are visible at low-water of neap tides, such parts are entitled to a three-mile limit in the same way as the dependent banks on the German coast. Recently, also, it has been found that the three-mile limit in the neighbourhood of the Scaw fluctuates considerably owing to the shifting of the shoals, and the Danish authorities, early in 1907, intimated that any case of alleged infraction of the limit by foreign fishing vessels would be judged of by the actual position of the line at the time, and not by what may be shown on any chart in use. The point in regard to banks was raised a century ago in connection with neutral rights in a case in which a British privateer captured a French corvette, theAfricaine, on the coast of the United States, six miles from shore. It was argued that the capture was unlawful, because the place was within the neutral waters of the United States, the extent of which had been defined by Congress in 1794 as one marine league from the coast (see p. 574). It was contended that “coasts” included all the shoals or banks which, in Florida, extended to a distance of twenty miles from the land, and were therefore within territorial jurisdiction, and that the distance of protection should be reckoned from the outermost shoal. The American judge overruled the argument, because, although in a maritime sense this interpretation of “coasts” might be correct, it was too vague for juridical purposes, since the shoals vary, and there would be no fixed rule by which the boundary could be ascertained; and that the district courts would have to apply different rules at different places, instead of the one marine league everywhere. A somewhat similar question was argued in 1805 in the English Admiralty Court in the case of an American ship, theAnna, captured by a British privateer off the mouth of the Mississippi, at a point claimed to be within the neutral waters of the United States—viz., 1½ mile from an island, and “within view” of a fort, which was, however, five miles distant. A question raised was whether certain small mud-islands, formed of earth and drifted logs, and covered with reeds, where people occasionally went to shoot wild-fowl, was United States territory from which the marine league could be measured. It was argued that the islands had not sufficient consistency to support the purposes of life, and were sometimes scarcely distinguishable, and that since the distance of neutral protection “is reckoned according to the efficacy of protection, that is, within the range of firearms,” the land from which the extension is measured should be a place from which this protection could be in reality afforded. Lord Stowell, in deciding that they were United States territory, stated that the right of dominion did not depend upon the texture of the soil; and he quoted Bynkershoek’s formula as the rule of law, saying that the distance “has usually been recognised to be about three miles from the shore.” It may be said here that in the earlier writings and decisions about the limit of territorial waters, low-water mark is not specified, and in the case of theTwee Gebroeders(see p. 577) it is clear that sand-banks uncovered at low-water were not regarded as entitled to an independent zone, the distance being measured fromterra firma.1181Fish Trades Gazette, May 31st, 1902, p. 8;ibid., April 4th, 1903, p. 21.1182“Les articles 2 et 3 de ce contrat stipulent que les pêcheurs nationaux jouiront du droit exclusif de pêche dans le rayon de trois milles géographiques de 60 au degré de latitude, à partir de la laisse de basse mer, le long de toute l’étendue des côtes de leurs pays respectifs, ainsi que des îles et des bancs qui en dépendent.”Loi relative à la pêche maritime dans les eaux territoriales. Exposé des motifs.Sess. 1890-91.1183The Marquis of Lothian, Secretary for Scotland, in introducing the Bill which became the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act, 1889, said: “With regard to the east coast there is no very great difficulty in fixing the limits of territorial waters, because between Her Majesty’s Government and what I may call the riparian powers of the North Sea there is a Fisheries Convention; but on the west coast there is no such convention, and therefore it has been thought desirable to attach a schedule to this Bill in order to show exactly what are the waters closed against trawlers apart altogether from the general international rule as to the three-mile limit.” June 28th, 1889. Hansard, vol. 337, p. 975.118446 & 47 Vict., c. 22, s. 28.11856 & 7 Vict., c. 79 (1843). The international regulations agreed upon in virtue of the eleventh article of the convention were to apply to “the seas lying between the coasts of Great Britain and of France”; and differences of interpretation arose in this country as to the extent of the seas coming under this denomination—e.g., whether those on the west coast of Scotland were included. The power given to the crown to suspend the operation of the Act on the Irish coasts, and the obvious intention of the Act and articles, seemed to the Royal Commissioners of 1863 to warrant the opinion that these extra-territorial regulations applied to all the seas around the British Isles (Report, Royal Commission on Sea Fisheries, i. p. lxiii). On the other hand, it was contended that the words quoted must be construed strictly, and included only those seas which were situated geographically between the two countries. This difference of opinion as to the interpretation of the phrase in question does not, however, affect the validity of Article ix. of the convention, one of the principal objects of which was to determine the limits of exclusive fishery.1186Vide46 & 47 Vict., c. 22, s. 24.1187Report from the Select Committee on Oyster Fisheries, p. 1. 1876.118819th, 22nd, and 23rdReports Fishery Board for Scotland, Part I. Corresponding particulars are not given in the English or Irish fishery reports.1189The preceding laws, however, left the territorial limits indefinite, under the law of nations, or subject to any special international agreement, as that of 12th February 1872, concerning foreign fishermen at Iceland. (“1. Drive fremmede Nationers Fiskere nogetsomhelst Fiskeri under Islands Kyster indenfor Søterritoriets Grænse, saaledes som denne er bestemt ved den almindelige Folkeret, eller ved særlige internationale Overenskomster for Islands Vedkommende maatte blive fastsat, straffes de med Bøder fra 10 til 200 Rd.” C. F. Drechsel,Samling af Islandske Love, Forordninger, m.m. gældende for Fiskeriet paa Søterritoriet ved Island, 1892.) Later laws, both for the Faröes and Iceland, merely referred to the “territorial sea.”1190Convention between His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of Denmark for regulating the Fisheries of their respective Subjects outside Territorial Waters in the Ocean surrounding the Faröe Islands and Iceland. Art. ii. “The subjects of His Majesty the King of Denmark shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark, along the whole extent of the coasts of the said islands, as well as of the dependent islets, rocks, and banks.“As regards bays, the distance of three miles shall be measured from a straight line drawn across the bay, in the part nearest the entrance, at the first point where the width does not exceed ten miles.” The geographical limits for the application of the convention, which embodies practically the same regulations as in the North Sea Convention, are as follows: on the south, by a line commencing from where the meridian of North Unst Lighthouse (Shetland Islands) meets the parallel of 61st degree of north latitude to a point where the 9th meridian of west longitude meets the parallel of 60° north latitude, and from thence westward along that parallel to the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the west, by the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the north, by the parallel of 67° 30´ of north latitude; on the east, by the meridian of the North Unst Lighthouse (which is about 50´ west longitude). The area is thus very large, much larger than the North Sea. The convention continues in force until the expiration of two years from notice by either party for its termination, and a clause is inserted providing for the adhesion of any other Government whose subjects fish in the ocean surrounding the Faröe Islands and Iceland.1191“Das positive deutsche Recht enthält keinerlei ausdrückliche Bestimmung über die Grenze der Küstengewässer landwärts.... Auch für die Grenze seewärts hat das deutsche Recht keine ausdrückliche Bestimmung, und adoptiert in dieser Richtung lediglich die Regeln des Völkerrechts.” Harburger,Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Internat. Law Assoc., 73. 1893.1192Herstlet,Commercial Treaties, xiv. 1055. Perels,Das Internationale öffentlichs Seerecht der Gegenwart, 38.1193Mittheilungen des deutschen Seefischerei-vereins, Bd. xiii. 61. 1897.1194“Vi ville have fastsat som Regel i alle de Tilfælde hvor Spørgsmaal er om Bestemmelse af Vor Territorial-Hoiheds Græendse udi Søen, at denne skal regnes indtil den sædvanlige Sø-Miils Afstand fra den yderste øe eller Holme fra Landet, som ikke overskylles af Søen.”Rescripter Resolutioner, &c., i. 626, 22 (25), Feb. 1812. A circular of the Royal Danish Chancellory of 18th August 1810 made an exception for the territorial waters near the fortress of Kronberg, on the Sound, and of Glückstadt, on the Elbe, where the distance was to be computed only up to the range of the guns of the fortress. Auber,Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xi. 146 (1894).1195Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift 9eÅrg., 78. Stockholm, 1900. “Danmark räknar på grund af konvention samma [with Sweden] fyra mils gräns mot oss, men däremot på grund af Nordsjötraktaten blott tre mil gentemot de i denna deltagande makterna, t. ex. engelsmän och tyskar.” Instruks for det ved Fiskerikontrollen ansatte Personale, Landbrugsministeriet, den 20 Marts 1908,Fiskeri-Beretning for Aaret1908-9.1196Natzen,Den Danske Statsforfatningsret, i. 36. 1888.1197Fiskerikonventionen mellem Danmark og Sverig, 14de July 1899.Fiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1898-1899, Copenhagen, 1900. “Art. I. I de til Kongerigerne Danmark og Sverig grænsende Farvande skal, med de i Art. II. nævnte Undtagelser, det Omraade, hvor Fiskeriet udelukkende er forbeholdt hvert Lands egne Undersaatter, udgøre en Strækning af en geografisk Mil (1/15 Breddegrad) fra Kysten eller yderste der udfor liggende Holme og Skær, som ikke til Stadighed overskylles af Vandet,” &c. The definition in the Swedish is “en geografisk mil (1/15 breddgrad) från kusten eller ytterst därutanför liggande holmar och skär, som icke ständigt af vattnet öfversköljas.” (Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift, 16eÅrg., Häft 6, p. 189.) Article II. makes the fishery in the Sound, including Kioge Bay, common to the subjects of each state, except that on either side,within a depth of seven metres(four fathoms), subjects of the other country shall be allowed to fish for herrings only, with nets; and mutual liberty of herring-fishing with drift-nets is conceded in like fashion at certain other specified places. Certain amendments were made to this agreement in 1907, the chief one being the prohibition of trawling in the Sound.Fiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1906-1907, p. 45.Svensk Författningssamling, No. 79, År., 1907.1198Sixth Supplement to Section 44 of Customs Orders, vol. vi., 1886;Ordinance of Home Department for the Regulation of the Fishery Supervision on the Murman Coast, 4th May 1887. See footnote, p. 657.1199Norsk Fiskeritidende, 466, 1893: Revue Général deDroit International Public, 1894, p. 440.1200In July 1910, a British trawler,Onward Ho, while engaged in fishing off the Kanin Peninsula, at a distance, according to the skipper, of 40 miles from Russian Lapland, and admittedly much beyond the three-mile limit, was arrested by a Russian cruiser and taken to Archangel, on the charge of illegal fishing. The vessel was released after representations had been made by the British Government, the Russian authorities finding that it had been arrested outside the boundary under the protection of the cruiser. The action was doubtless taken in connection with a new law of 10th December 1909, establishing a limit of 12 miles from the coast for customs purposes,—all vessels, Russian or foreign, being held to be subject to the control of the Russian authorities when within that distance.Handelsberichten, 12th May 1910, p. 135.1201“Art. 2. Sur la demande des prud’hommes des pêcheurs, de leurs délégués et, à défaut, des syndics des gens de mer, certaines pêches peuvent être temporairement interdités sur une étendue de mer au delà de 3 milles du littoral, si cette mesure est commandée par l’intérêt de la conservation des fonds ou de la pêche de poissons de passage. L’arrêté d’interdiction est pris par le Préfet Maritime.”1202M. de Chasseloup Lubat, inAnn. di Agricoltura, 50. 1891.1203Law of 7th June 1832. Heffter,Le Droit International de l’Europe, c. ii. s. 75.1204“Loi relative à la pêche maritime dans les eaux territoriales,” 19th August 1891. A decree of 5th September 1892 regulated foreign fishing-boats when within territorial waters.1205Wet van 15 Juni 1883,Staatsblad, No. 73; Koninklijk Besluit van 20 March 1884,Staatsblad, No. 40, putting in force the North Sea Convention: “Art. 1. De bepalingen dezer overeenkomst, welke ten doel heeft de politie der visscherij in de Noordzee buiten de territoriale wateren te regelen, zijn toepasselijk op allen, die tot de nationaliteit der Hooge contracteerende Partijen behooren. 2. De visschers van elken Staat zullen het uitsluitend recht van visscherij genieten binnen een kring van drie mijlen, gerekend van de laagwaterlijn, langs de geheele uitgestrektheid der kusten van elken Staat en evenzeer langs de eilanden en banken, die daarmede zijn verbonden,” &c. Wet van 7th December 1883,Staatsblad, No. 202; Wet van 26th October 1889,Staatsblad, No. 135, “Tot vaststelling van bepalingen tegen het visschen door opvarenden van vreemde vaartuigen in de territoriale wateren van het Rijk”; the limits, as laid down in the convention of 1882, are applied to all foreign fishing vessels. There are special agreements with Belgium as to the fishings in the Schelde. H. van der Hoeven,Wetgeving betreffende de Zee- en de Zalmvisscherijen. Leiden, 1897.1206Strisower,Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International. 1894.1207Verordnung der Ministerien des Handels und des Ackerbaues, im Einvernehmen mit dem Ministerium des Innern, vom 5 December 1884, betreffend die Seefischerei, s. 3.1208Handels- und Schiffahrtsvertrag vom 27 Dec. 1878, zwischen Oesterreich-Ungarn und Italien. Schlussprotokoll ad Art. xvii., xviii.; Marchesetti,La pesca lungo le coste orientali dell’ Adria. Trieste, 1882.1209Vorschriften über die See-Fischerei giltig in Oesterreich-Ungarn seit 12 December 1884.1210Legge sulla pesca del 4 marzo 1877, No. 3706 (Serie 2a).1211Annali di Agricoltura, 1891. Atti della commissione consultiva per la pesca, pp. 32, 86.1212Definizione del mare territoriale e ordine di vigilare sugli armamenti alla pesca.Ann. del Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio, i. parte i. 96. Genoa, 1871.1213Corsi, inFifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, 83.1214No. 7, 409, 2nd Dec. 1869. Apostolidès,La Pêche en Grèce, 86. Athens, 1888.1215Dr Kishinouye,in litt.1216Civil Code, Articles 593, 611.1217Reglamentendo la pesca y caza,Boletin official, 20th September 1907.1218Reglamento para las concesiones de pesca en el litoral oceánico de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 4th June 1909. “Art. 3o. Los concesionarios solo podrán emplear redes arrastradas por vapores en una zona distante no menos de doce (12) millas, contadas desde las líneas de las más bajas mareas. Art. 4o. Dentro de la zona de doce millas hasta la línea de las más bajas mareas, podrán usarse redes arrastradas por veleros. Se declara libre el uso de las líneas, palangres ó espineles, nasas y redes verticales de deriva. Art. 6o. Las personas ó empresas que quisieran usar artes especiales de pesca distintos de los indicados, deberán solicitar permiso especial de la División de Ganadería y obtener la autorización correspondiente. Art. 7o. Las embarcaciones llevarán bandera nacional y sus tripulaciones se compondrán de una parte de individuos de nacionalidad argentina, de acuerdo con las leyes y reglamentos de cabotaje nacional.” I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr R. M. Bartleman, the American Consul-General at Buenos Aires, for a copy of these regulations.1219Reuter’s telegrams from Buenos Aires, 21st March, 30th June 1908.Scotsman, 23rd March, 2nd July 1908.La Prensa, one of the leading journals of Buenos Aires, is quoted as declaring it hard to believe that the British Government has decided to raise a question of such exceptional gravity, seeing the first effect of such action would be to bring about a conflict to which there could be no conciliatory or friendly solution, since the immediate reply, which would be final, would be absolute rejection of the claim put forward—that is, that the waters of the estuary outside the limits of three miles from the coasts are non-territorial.

1137Reports of the Commissioners for the Herring Fishery, 1839, 1840, 1841.

1138It was denounced in the Boulogne Chamber of Commerce as the greatest blunder the French Government had ever made, and many complaints were received from French fishermen of their boats having been captured or pursued by British cruisers. Deseille,Histoire de la Pêche à Boulogne-sur-Mer, 229. The French cruisers were no less active in apprehending British transgressors.Parl. Papers, Sess. 1854-5, 459.

1139Mitchell,The Herring: Its Natural History and National Importance, 243.

1140The Board pointed out that the fishermen of other foreign countries were not disposed to observe the limits laid down in the Anglo-French convention, specifying Dutch as well as Belgians, and that the naval superintendents were perplexed from the want of fixed instructions on this point. The letter from the Board of Trade was as follows (Report of the Commissioners for the year ended 5th January 1849):—“Office of Committee of Privy-Council for Trade,“Whitehall,14th September 1848.“Sir,—With reference to your letter of 4th ultimo, requesting, on the part of the Commissioners of British Fisheries, to know whether Foreign Fishermen are permitted to fish within three miles of the Shore; I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy-Council for Trade, to inform you, that it is the opinion of this Board, that no such permission is recognised by the British Government, and accordingly, that it is the duty of the Superintendents of British Fisheries, to warn Dutch, Belgian, or any other Foreigners, as well as French Fishermen, to keep outside of the limits above mentioned.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,(Sd.)Denis le Marchant.The HonourableB. F. Primrose, Secretary,Board of Fisheries, Edinburgh.”

“Office of Committee of Privy-Council for Trade,“Whitehall,14th September 1848.

“Sir,—With reference to your letter of 4th ultimo, requesting, on the part of the Commissioners of British Fisheries, to know whether Foreign Fishermen are permitted to fish within three miles of the Shore; I am directed by the Lords of the Committee of Privy-Council for Trade, to inform you, that it is the opinion of this Board, that no such permission is recognised by the British Government, and accordingly, that it is the duty of the Superintendents of British Fisheries, to warn Dutch, Belgian, or any other Foreigners, as well as French Fishermen, to keep outside of the limits above mentioned.—I am, sir, your obedient servant,

(Sd.)Denis le Marchant.

The HonourableB. F. Primrose, Secretary,Board of Fisheries, Edinburgh.”

1141See p. 461.

1142Convention between Her Majesty and the King of the Belgians relative to Fishery. Signed at London, March 22, 1852. “Art. I. Belgian subjects shall enjoy, in regard to fishery along the coast of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the treatment of the most favoured foreign nation. In like manner, British subjects shall enjoy, in regard to fishery along the coast of the Kingdom of Belgium, the treatment of the most favoured foreign nation.” The convention was to endure for seven years, and it was to remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months after either party notified to the other its intention of terminating it.

1143Reports by the Commissioners for the British Fisheries, 1848-51.Parl. Papers, Sess. 1856.

1144Reports of the Commissioners for the British Fisheries, 1852, 1853, 1862.

1145Report of the Commissioners appointed to Enquire into the Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom, I. lxix. (1866).

1146Convention between Her Majesty and the Emperor of the French, relative to the Fisheries in the seas between Great Britain and France.Signed at Paris, 11th November 1867. Art. I. “British fishermen shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark, along the whole extent of the coasts of the British Islands; and French fishermen shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark along the whole extent of the coast of France, the only exception to this rule being that part of the coast of France which lies between Cape Carteret and Point Meinga. The distance of three miles fixed as the general limit for the exclusive right of fishery upon the coasts of the two countries shall, with respect to bays, the mouths of which do not exceed ten miles in width, be measured from a straight line drawn from headland to headland. The miles mentioned in the present Convention are geographical miles, whereof sixty make a degree of latitude.” In neither of the conventions was it expressly said that the ten-mile closing-line for bays was to be measured from low-water mark of the headlands, but it was so declared in the Act of 1843, 6 & 7 Vict., c. 79.

114731 & 32 Vict., c. 45.

1148London Gazette, 9th Feb. 1869. C. E. Fryer,The Relation of the State with Fishermen and Fisheries. Parl. Papers, Commerc., 24 (1882), p. 1.

114946 & 47 Vict., c. 22, sec. 30.

11506 & 7 Vict., c. 79, s. vi.

11515 & 6 Vict., c. 106.

1152Parl. Papers, Sess. 1867-68, Fisheries (Ireland), 135.

115331 & 32 Vict., c. 45, s. 67.

1154Report from the Select Committee on Oyster Fisheries, 8, 166 (1876).

1155Had the coasts of the United States been visited by British fishermen, it is not unlikely that the Government of that country would have been more willing to admit the ordinary interpretation with regard to bays. British vessels do not, however, fish on the coasts of the United States, and the United States fishermen, having exhausted the once productive waters of their own coasts of the New England States, go to catch a large part of their fish to the waters on the coasts of British North America, and hence it is to their interest that the limit of exclusive fishing on the latter should be as small as they can get it made. The position is very similar to that of the English trawlers who, having impoverished the North Sea, now go to foreign coasts, as Iceland, to keep up the supplies.See p. 707.

1156Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, signed at Washington, 1st June 1854, Art. i., ii. I. “It is agreed by the high contracting parties that in addition to the liberty secured to the United States’ fishermen by the above-mentioned convention of October 20, 1818, of taking, curing, and drying fish on certain coasts of the British North American Colonies therein defined, the inhabitants of the United States shall have, in common with the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty, the liberty to take fish of every kind, except shell-fish, on the sea coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbours, and creeks of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward’s Island, and of the several islands thereunto adjacent, without being restricted to any distance from the shore, with permission to land upon the coasts and shores of those Colonies and the islands thereof, and also upon the Magdalen Islands, for the purpose of drying their nets and curing their fish; provided that, in so doing, they do not interfere with the rights of private property, or with British fishermen, in the peaceable use of any part of the said coast in their occupancy for the same purpose.” The second article accorded to Canadian fishermen similar privileges in the waters of the United States, north of 36 degrees N. latitude.

1157Before this arrangement was made, the British Government, on 12th April 1866, instructed the Admiralty “that American fishermen should not be interfered with, either by notice or otherwise, unless they are found within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of a bay or creek, which is less than ten geographical miles in width, in conformity with the arrangement made with France in 1839.”

115827th June 1870. “The limits within which you will, if necessary, exercise the power to exclude United States’ fishermen, or to detain American fishing vessels or boats, are for the present to be exceptional.... Her Majesty’s Government are clearly of opinion that, by the Convention of 1818, the United States have renounced the right of fishing, not only within three miles of the Colonial shores, but within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of any British bay or creek. It is, however, the wish of Her Majesty’s Government neither to concede, nor for the present to enforce, any rights in this respect which are in their nature open to any serious question. Until further instructed, therefore, you will not interfere with any American fishermen, unless found within three miles of the shore, or within three miles of a line drawn across the mouth of a bay or creek, which, though in parts more than six miles wide, is less than six geographical miles in width at its mouth. In the case of any other bay—as Bay des Chaleurs, for example—you will not interfere with any United States’ fishing vessel or boat, or any American fishermen, unless they are found within three miles of the shore.”

1159Treaty between Her Majesty and the United States of America, signed at Washington, 8th May 1871, Art. xviii., xix.

1160Parl. Papers, No. 1 (1888), (C.—5262).

1161The number of American fishing vessels which take the licenses for Canadian waters is usually about 100, the fees aggregating 10,000 or 12,000 dollars per annum.Ann. Reports, Marine and Fisheries, Ottawa.

1162The three-mile limit is measured from the ten-mile arc.

1163Mr Phelps to the Marquis of Salisbury, 3rd August 1887, enclosing ad interim arrangement proposed by the United States’ Government, with “Observations” by the British Government and Reply of the Government of the United States.

1164Gordon,15th Ann. Rep. Assoc. for Reform of Law of Nations(8). 1893.

1165Report by the Commissioners for the Herring Fishery, Scotland, 1869, p. 4;Report by the Commissioners of the Fishery Board, Scotland, 1876, p. 7.

1166Report of W. H. Higgin, Esq., Q.C., on the Outrages committed by Foreign upon English Fishermen in the North Sea.Parl. Papers(C.—2878), 1881.

1167After all, however, the damage from the monetary point of view was not very great, amounting, according to the detailed information collected by Mr Higgin, to £4372, 3s. over the years 1870-1880, or at the rate of about £400 per annum.

1168Correspondence respecting the Conference at The Hague and the Convention of the 6th May 1882, relative to the Police of the Fisheries in the North Sea.Parl. Papers, Commercial, No. 24, 1882.

1169M. Barthélemy St Hilaire to Lord Lyons, 2nd July 1881; M. de Freycinet to M. Challemel-Lacour, 2nd March 1882.

1170“The fishermen of each country shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark along the whole extent of the coasts of their respective countries and of the dependent islands. As regards bays, the entrances of which do not exceed ten miles in width, the distance of three miles shall be measured from a straight line joining the two extreme points of the bay. The present article shall not in any way prejudice the right of free navigation and anchorage in territorial waters accorded to vessels of all sizes, provided they conform to the special police regulations enacted by the Powers to whom the shore belongs.”

1171Messrs Kennedy and Trevor to Mr Farrer, Oct. 31, 1881. In the Anglo-French convention of 1867 the British negotiators unsuccessfully pressed for the insertion of the words, “the islands ... and their dependencies.” M. de Freycinet to M. Challemel-Lacour, 2nd March 1882.

1172VideFiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1907-1908, p. 178. Kjobenhavn, 1908.

1173Report on the Sea Fisheries of England and Wales, 1879. The British delegate laid stress on one of the conclusions reached by Mr Buckland, to the effect that “nothing that man has done, and nothing that man can do, can affect the supply of herrings in the seas.” Even if this were proved for the herring in the absolute form in which it is expressed,—and it is clearly illogical and unwarrantable to pledge the future in this loose way,—it obviously might not, and in point of fact does not, apply to the great bulk of the fishes that would have been affected by the German suggestion.

1174International Convention for the Purpose of Regulating the Police of the Fisheries in the North Sea outside Territorial Waters.Signed at The Hague, 6th May 1882.

1175Sir H. Rumbold to Earl Granville, 16th March 1882; H.M. Plenipotentiaries to the same, 8th May 1882.

1176The boundaries specified are, on the north, the parallel of the 61st degree of latitude; on the east and south, the coast of Norway between the above parallel and Lindesnæs Lighthouse, a straight line thence across the Skagerrack to Hantsholm Lighthouse in Denmark, the coasts of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, as far as Cape Gris Nez Lighthouse; on the west, a straight line from Gris Nez Lighthouse to the easternmost lighthouse at the North Foreland in Kent, the eastern coasts of England and Scotland, a line from Duncansby Head in Caithness to the southern point of South Ronaldsha in the Orkneys, the eastern coasts of the Orkney Islands, a straight line from North Ronaldsha Lighthouse to Sumburgh Head Lighthouse in the Shetland Islands, the eastern coasts of these islands, and the meridian of the North Unst Lighthouse as far as the parallel of the 61st degree of latitude. The Dutch proposed the 60th degree of latitude as the northern limit, and the British the 62nd degree.

117746 & 47 Vict., c. 22. An Act to carry into effect an International Convention concerning the Fisheries in the North Sea, and to amend the laws relating to British Sea Fisheries.

1178Messrs Kennedy and Trevor to Mr Farrer, 31st Oct. 1881.Doc. cit.

1179Dispatch to Hon. E. Ashley, 17th Nov. 1881; Earl Granville to Her Majesty’s Representatives at Paris, Brussels, The Hague, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Stockholm, 6th December 1881.

1180A case occurred in 1908 in which the master of an English trawler, theTaurus, was convicted in a German court for trawling within the three-mile limit on the German coast, and the case was appealed on the ground that the place was outside the territorial waters, and was so shown on the English fishery charts. It was found, however, that the three-mile line on these charts did not take into account the dependent banks, whereas the German charts did take them into account, the limit running in some cases six or seven miles from the coast. It may be mentioned that as considerable parts of the Goodwin Sands are visible at low-water of neap tides, such parts are entitled to a three-mile limit in the same way as the dependent banks on the German coast. Recently, also, it has been found that the three-mile limit in the neighbourhood of the Scaw fluctuates considerably owing to the shifting of the shoals, and the Danish authorities, early in 1907, intimated that any case of alleged infraction of the limit by foreign fishing vessels would be judged of by the actual position of the line at the time, and not by what may be shown on any chart in use. The point in regard to banks was raised a century ago in connection with neutral rights in a case in which a British privateer captured a French corvette, theAfricaine, on the coast of the United States, six miles from shore. It was argued that the capture was unlawful, because the place was within the neutral waters of the United States, the extent of which had been defined by Congress in 1794 as one marine league from the coast (see p. 574). It was contended that “coasts” included all the shoals or banks which, in Florida, extended to a distance of twenty miles from the land, and were therefore within territorial jurisdiction, and that the distance of protection should be reckoned from the outermost shoal. The American judge overruled the argument, because, although in a maritime sense this interpretation of “coasts” might be correct, it was too vague for juridical purposes, since the shoals vary, and there would be no fixed rule by which the boundary could be ascertained; and that the district courts would have to apply different rules at different places, instead of the one marine league everywhere. A somewhat similar question was argued in 1805 in the English Admiralty Court in the case of an American ship, theAnna, captured by a British privateer off the mouth of the Mississippi, at a point claimed to be within the neutral waters of the United States—viz., 1½ mile from an island, and “within view” of a fort, which was, however, five miles distant. A question raised was whether certain small mud-islands, formed of earth and drifted logs, and covered with reeds, where people occasionally went to shoot wild-fowl, was United States territory from which the marine league could be measured. It was argued that the islands had not sufficient consistency to support the purposes of life, and were sometimes scarcely distinguishable, and that since the distance of neutral protection “is reckoned according to the efficacy of protection, that is, within the range of firearms,” the land from which the extension is measured should be a place from which this protection could be in reality afforded. Lord Stowell, in deciding that they were United States territory, stated that the right of dominion did not depend upon the texture of the soil; and he quoted Bynkershoek’s formula as the rule of law, saying that the distance “has usually been recognised to be about three miles from the shore.” It may be said here that in the earlier writings and decisions about the limit of territorial waters, low-water mark is not specified, and in the case of theTwee Gebroeders(see p. 577) it is clear that sand-banks uncovered at low-water were not regarded as entitled to an independent zone, the distance being measured fromterra firma.

1181Fish Trades Gazette, May 31st, 1902, p. 8;ibid., April 4th, 1903, p. 21.

1182“Les articles 2 et 3 de ce contrat stipulent que les pêcheurs nationaux jouiront du droit exclusif de pêche dans le rayon de trois milles géographiques de 60 au degré de latitude, à partir de la laisse de basse mer, le long de toute l’étendue des côtes de leurs pays respectifs, ainsi que des îles et des bancs qui en dépendent.”Loi relative à la pêche maritime dans les eaux territoriales. Exposé des motifs.Sess. 1890-91.

1183The Marquis of Lothian, Secretary for Scotland, in introducing the Bill which became the Herring Fishery (Scotland) Act, 1889, said: “With regard to the east coast there is no very great difficulty in fixing the limits of territorial waters, because between Her Majesty’s Government and what I may call the riparian powers of the North Sea there is a Fisheries Convention; but on the west coast there is no such convention, and therefore it has been thought desirable to attach a schedule to this Bill in order to show exactly what are the waters closed against trawlers apart altogether from the general international rule as to the three-mile limit.” June 28th, 1889. Hansard, vol. 337, p. 975.

118446 & 47 Vict., c. 22, s. 28.

11856 & 7 Vict., c. 79 (1843). The international regulations agreed upon in virtue of the eleventh article of the convention were to apply to “the seas lying between the coasts of Great Britain and of France”; and differences of interpretation arose in this country as to the extent of the seas coming under this denomination—e.g., whether those on the west coast of Scotland were included. The power given to the crown to suspend the operation of the Act on the Irish coasts, and the obvious intention of the Act and articles, seemed to the Royal Commissioners of 1863 to warrant the opinion that these extra-territorial regulations applied to all the seas around the British Isles (Report, Royal Commission on Sea Fisheries, i. p. lxiii). On the other hand, it was contended that the words quoted must be construed strictly, and included only those seas which were situated geographically between the two countries. This difference of opinion as to the interpretation of the phrase in question does not, however, affect the validity of Article ix. of the convention, one of the principal objects of which was to determine the limits of exclusive fishery.

1186Vide46 & 47 Vict., c. 22, s. 24.

1187Report from the Select Committee on Oyster Fisheries, p. 1. 1876.

118819th, 22nd, and 23rdReports Fishery Board for Scotland, Part I. Corresponding particulars are not given in the English or Irish fishery reports.

1189The preceding laws, however, left the territorial limits indefinite, under the law of nations, or subject to any special international agreement, as that of 12th February 1872, concerning foreign fishermen at Iceland. (“1. Drive fremmede Nationers Fiskere nogetsomhelst Fiskeri under Islands Kyster indenfor Søterritoriets Grænse, saaledes som denne er bestemt ved den almindelige Folkeret, eller ved særlige internationale Overenskomster for Islands Vedkommende maatte blive fastsat, straffes de med Bøder fra 10 til 200 Rd.” C. F. Drechsel,Samling af Islandske Love, Forordninger, m.m. gældende for Fiskeriet paa Søterritoriet ved Island, 1892.) Later laws, both for the Faröes and Iceland, merely referred to the “territorial sea.”

1190Convention between His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and His Majesty the King of Denmark for regulating the Fisheries of their respective Subjects outside Territorial Waters in the Ocean surrounding the Faröe Islands and Iceland. Art. ii. “The subjects of His Majesty the King of Denmark shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of three miles from low-water mark, along the whole extent of the coasts of the said islands, as well as of the dependent islets, rocks, and banks.“As regards bays, the distance of three miles shall be measured from a straight line drawn across the bay, in the part nearest the entrance, at the first point where the width does not exceed ten miles.” The geographical limits for the application of the convention, which embodies practically the same regulations as in the North Sea Convention, are as follows: on the south, by a line commencing from where the meridian of North Unst Lighthouse (Shetland Islands) meets the parallel of 61st degree of north latitude to a point where the 9th meridian of west longitude meets the parallel of 60° north latitude, and from thence westward along that parallel to the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the west, by the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the north, by the parallel of 67° 30´ of north latitude; on the east, by the meridian of the North Unst Lighthouse (which is about 50´ west longitude). The area is thus very large, much larger than the North Sea. The convention continues in force until the expiration of two years from notice by either party for its termination, and a clause is inserted providing for the adhesion of any other Government whose subjects fish in the ocean surrounding the Faröe Islands and Iceland.

“As regards bays, the distance of three miles shall be measured from a straight line drawn across the bay, in the part nearest the entrance, at the first point where the width does not exceed ten miles.” The geographical limits for the application of the convention, which embodies practically the same regulations as in the North Sea Convention, are as follows: on the south, by a line commencing from where the meridian of North Unst Lighthouse (Shetland Islands) meets the parallel of 61st degree of north latitude to a point where the 9th meridian of west longitude meets the parallel of 60° north latitude, and from thence westward along that parallel to the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the west, by the meridian of 27° west longitude; on the north, by the parallel of 67° 30´ of north latitude; on the east, by the meridian of the North Unst Lighthouse (which is about 50´ west longitude). The area is thus very large, much larger than the North Sea. The convention continues in force until the expiration of two years from notice by either party for its termination, and a clause is inserted providing for the adhesion of any other Government whose subjects fish in the ocean surrounding the Faröe Islands and Iceland.

1191“Das positive deutsche Recht enthält keinerlei ausdrückliche Bestimmung über die Grenze der Küstengewässer landwärts.... Auch für die Grenze seewärts hat das deutsche Recht keine ausdrückliche Bestimmung, und adoptiert in dieser Richtung lediglich die Regeln des Völkerrechts.” Harburger,Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Internat. Law Assoc., 73. 1893.

1192Herstlet,Commercial Treaties, xiv. 1055. Perels,Das Internationale öffentlichs Seerecht der Gegenwart, 38.

1193Mittheilungen des deutschen Seefischerei-vereins, Bd. xiii. 61. 1897.

1194“Vi ville have fastsat som Regel i alle de Tilfælde hvor Spørgsmaal er om Bestemmelse af Vor Territorial-Hoiheds Græendse udi Søen, at denne skal regnes indtil den sædvanlige Sø-Miils Afstand fra den yderste øe eller Holme fra Landet, som ikke overskylles af Søen.”Rescripter Resolutioner, &c., i. 626, 22 (25), Feb. 1812. A circular of the Royal Danish Chancellory of 18th August 1810 made an exception for the territorial waters near the fortress of Kronberg, on the Sound, and of Glückstadt, on the Elbe, where the distance was to be computed only up to the range of the guns of the fortress. Auber,Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xi. 146 (1894).

1195Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift 9eÅrg., 78. Stockholm, 1900. “Danmark räknar på grund af konvention samma [with Sweden] fyra mils gräns mot oss, men däremot på grund af Nordsjötraktaten blott tre mil gentemot de i denna deltagande makterna, t. ex. engelsmän och tyskar.” Instruks for det ved Fiskerikontrollen ansatte Personale, Landbrugsministeriet, den 20 Marts 1908,Fiskeri-Beretning for Aaret1908-9.

1196Natzen,Den Danske Statsforfatningsret, i. 36. 1888.

1197Fiskerikonventionen mellem Danmark og Sverig, 14de July 1899.Fiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1898-1899, Copenhagen, 1900. “Art. I. I de til Kongerigerne Danmark og Sverig grænsende Farvande skal, med de i Art. II. nævnte Undtagelser, det Omraade, hvor Fiskeriet udelukkende er forbeholdt hvert Lands egne Undersaatter, udgøre en Strækning af en geografisk Mil (1/15 Breddegrad) fra Kysten eller yderste der udfor liggende Holme og Skær, som ikke til Stadighed overskylles af Vandet,” &c. The definition in the Swedish is “en geografisk mil (1/15 breddgrad) från kusten eller ytterst därutanför liggande holmar och skär, som icke ständigt af vattnet öfversköljas.” (Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift, 16eÅrg., Häft 6, p. 189.) Article II. makes the fishery in the Sound, including Kioge Bay, common to the subjects of each state, except that on either side,within a depth of seven metres(four fathoms), subjects of the other country shall be allowed to fish for herrings only, with nets; and mutual liberty of herring-fishing with drift-nets is conceded in like fashion at certain other specified places. Certain amendments were made to this agreement in 1907, the chief one being the prohibition of trawling in the Sound.Fiskeri-Beretning for Finansaaret, 1906-1907, p. 45.Svensk Författningssamling, No. 79, År., 1907.

1198Sixth Supplement to Section 44 of Customs Orders, vol. vi., 1886;Ordinance of Home Department for the Regulation of the Fishery Supervision on the Murman Coast, 4th May 1887. See footnote, p. 657.

1199Norsk Fiskeritidende, 466, 1893: Revue Général deDroit International Public, 1894, p. 440.

1200In July 1910, a British trawler,Onward Ho, while engaged in fishing off the Kanin Peninsula, at a distance, according to the skipper, of 40 miles from Russian Lapland, and admittedly much beyond the three-mile limit, was arrested by a Russian cruiser and taken to Archangel, on the charge of illegal fishing. The vessel was released after representations had been made by the British Government, the Russian authorities finding that it had been arrested outside the boundary under the protection of the cruiser. The action was doubtless taken in connection with a new law of 10th December 1909, establishing a limit of 12 miles from the coast for customs purposes,—all vessels, Russian or foreign, being held to be subject to the control of the Russian authorities when within that distance.Handelsberichten, 12th May 1910, p. 135.

1201“Art. 2. Sur la demande des prud’hommes des pêcheurs, de leurs délégués et, à défaut, des syndics des gens de mer, certaines pêches peuvent être temporairement interdités sur une étendue de mer au delà de 3 milles du littoral, si cette mesure est commandée par l’intérêt de la conservation des fonds ou de la pêche de poissons de passage. L’arrêté d’interdiction est pris par le Préfet Maritime.”

1202M. de Chasseloup Lubat, inAnn. di Agricoltura, 50. 1891.

1203Law of 7th June 1832. Heffter,Le Droit International de l’Europe, c. ii. s. 75.

1204“Loi relative à la pêche maritime dans les eaux territoriales,” 19th August 1891. A decree of 5th September 1892 regulated foreign fishing-boats when within territorial waters.

1205Wet van 15 Juni 1883,Staatsblad, No. 73; Koninklijk Besluit van 20 March 1884,Staatsblad, No. 40, putting in force the North Sea Convention: “Art. 1. De bepalingen dezer overeenkomst, welke ten doel heeft de politie der visscherij in de Noordzee buiten de territoriale wateren te regelen, zijn toepasselijk op allen, die tot de nationaliteit der Hooge contracteerende Partijen behooren. 2. De visschers van elken Staat zullen het uitsluitend recht van visscherij genieten binnen een kring van drie mijlen, gerekend van de laagwaterlijn, langs de geheele uitgestrektheid der kusten van elken Staat en evenzeer langs de eilanden en banken, die daarmede zijn verbonden,” &c. Wet van 7th December 1883,Staatsblad, No. 202; Wet van 26th October 1889,Staatsblad, No. 135, “Tot vaststelling van bepalingen tegen het visschen door opvarenden van vreemde vaartuigen in de territoriale wateren van het Rijk”; the limits, as laid down in the convention of 1882, are applied to all foreign fishing vessels. There are special agreements with Belgium as to the fishings in the Schelde. H. van der Hoeven,Wetgeving betreffende de Zee- en de Zalmvisscherijen. Leiden, 1897.

1206Strisower,Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International. 1894.

1207Verordnung der Ministerien des Handels und des Ackerbaues, im Einvernehmen mit dem Ministerium des Innern, vom 5 December 1884, betreffend die Seefischerei, s. 3.

1208Handels- und Schiffahrtsvertrag vom 27 Dec. 1878, zwischen Oesterreich-Ungarn und Italien. Schlussprotokoll ad Art. xvii., xviii.; Marchesetti,La pesca lungo le coste orientali dell’ Adria. Trieste, 1882.

1209Vorschriften über die See-Fischerei giltig in Oesterreich-Ungarn seit 12 December 1884.

1210Legge sulla pesca del 4 marzo 1877, No. 3706 (Serie 2a).

1211Annali di Agricoltura, 1891. Atti della commissione consultiva per la pesca, pp. 32, 86.

1212Definizione del mare territoriale e ordine di vigilare sugli armamenti alla pesca.Ann. del Ministero di Agricoltura, Industria e Commercio, i. parte i. 96. Genoa, 1871.

1213Corsi, inFifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, 83.

1214No. 7, 409, 2nd Dec. 1869. Apostolidès,La Pêche en Grèce, 86. Athens, 1888.

1215Dr Kishinouye,in litt.

1216Civil Code, Articles 593, 611.

1217Reglamentendo la pesca y caza,Boletin official, 20th September 1907.

1218Reglamento para las concesiones de pesca en el litoral oceánico de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 4th June 1909. “Art. 3o. Los concesionarios solo podrán emplear redes arrastradas por vapores en una zona distante no menos de doce (12) millas, contadas desde las líneas de las más bajas mareas. Art. 4o. Dentro de la zona de doce millas hasta la línea de las más bajas mareas, podrán usarse redes arrastradas por veleros. Se declara libre el uso de las líneas, palangres ó espineles, nasas y redes verticales de deriva. Art. 6o. Las personas ó empresas que quisieran usar artes especiales de pesca distintos de los indicados, deberán solicitar permiso especial de la División de Ganadería y obtener la autorización correspondiente. Art. 7o. Las embarcaciones llevarán bandera nacional y sus tripulaciones se compondrán de una parte de individuos de nacionalidad argentina, de acuerdo con las leyes y reglamentos de cabotaje nacional.” I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr R. M. Bartleman, the American Consul-General at Buenos Aires, for a copy of these regulations.

1219Reuter’s telegrams from Buenos Aires, 21st March, 30th June 1908.Scotsman, 23rd March, 2nd July 1908.La Prensa, one of the leading journals of Buenos Aires, is quoted as declaring it hard to believe that the British Government has decided to raise a question of such exceptional gravity, seeing the first effect of such action would be to bring about a conflict to which there could be no conciliatory or friendly solution, since the immediate reply, which would be final, would be absolute rejection of the claim put forward—that is, that the waters of the estuary outside the limits of three miles from the coasts are non-territorial.

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