Chapter 40

1220Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration, p. 23, “outside the ordinary three-mile limit.” The President, Baron de Courcel, has since explained that the tribunal “s’est borné à constater que les parties étaient d’accord pour admettre que l’étendue de trois milles à partir de la côte comme formant dans l’espèce qui lui était soumise, la limite ordinaire des eaux territoriales.” M. de Courcel to M. Auber,App. Ann. de l’Institut de Droit Internat.for 1894, p. 282.VideHall,A Treatise on International Law, 4th ed., p. 161.1221For example, Leoni Levi, “No territorial sovereignty exists or can be claimed beyond the three miles zone.”Internat. Law, 112.1222Mr Seward, Secretary of State, to Mr Tassara, 6th December 1862. The same to Mr Burnley, 16th September 1864. Wharton,A Digest of the International Law of the United States, i. 105. American ships were charged with pursuing Confederate vessels into British waters, and the balls from the guns they fired had struck objects on shore. The facts were used to show that the hostile acts had occurred within our territorial jurisdiction. Hansard, vol. 173, p. 509; February 1864.1223Secretary Fish to Sir E. Thornton, 22nd January 1875. “We have understood and asserted that, pursuant to public law, no nation can rightfully claim jurisdiction at sea beyond a marine league from the coast.”Loc. cit.1224Torres-Campos, inFifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, 93. Negrin,Tratado de Derecho internacional maritimo, 1883.1225Negocios Externos. Documentos apresentados ás Cortes na Sessão legislativa de 1879 pelo Ministro e Secretario d’Estado dos Negocios Estrangeiros. Questão das Pescarias, p. 258. Lisboa, 1879. The volume contains a full discussion of the questions between the two Governments.1226Tratado de navegación y comercio entre España y Portugal, firmado en Madrid el dí 27 de Marzo de 1893. Apéndice Sexto. Reglamento de policía costera y de pesca. Sec. 1. Disposiciones aplicables á las aguas de cada país, “Art. 1o. La policía costera y de pesca en las aguas jurisdiccionales de España y de Portugal, quedará sujeta á las disposiciones siguientes. Art. 2o. Los límites dentro de los cuales el derecho general de pesca, queda reservado exclusivamente á los pescadores sujetos á las jurisdicciones respectivas de las dos naciones, se fijan en seis millas, contadas por fuera de la linea de bajamar de las mayores mareas. Para las bahías cuya abertura no exceda de diez millas, las seis millas se contáran á partir de una linea recta tirada de una punta á la otra. Las millas mencionadas son millas geográficas de 60 al grado de latitud. Art. 3°. Cada una de los Estados tendrá el derecho de reglamentar el ejercicio de la pesca en sus respectivas costas marítimas hasta una distancia de seis millas de las mismas, límite dentro del cual solamente será permitido á los Pescadores nacionales ejercer esta industria.” F. López y Medina,Colección de Tratados Internacionales, Ordenanzas y Reglamentos de Pesca, pp. 44, 49 (Madrid, 1906). I am indebted to Sir Reginald MacLeod, K.C.B., late Under-Secretary for Scotland, for this volume.1227Revista de Pesca Marítima, ix. 97 (1893); x. 209 (1894). Various regulations have been lately made with respect to trawling beyond the six-mile limit at certain parts of the Spanish coast (videLópez y Medina,Primer Apéndice a la Colección de Tratados, &c., pp. 34-45. Madrid, 1907), and also on the coast of Portugal (vide Collecção de Leis e Disposições diversas com relação á Pesca e Serviço maritimo dos Portos, pp. 28, 54, 276, 535. Lisboa, 1907). In no other countries, it may be added, have more regulations been made restricting all kinds of trawling than in Spain and Portugal.1228Prof. A. F. Marion,in litt.1229The National Sea Fisheries Protection Association:Twenty-fourth Ann. Rep. of the Committee of Management, 1905, p. 7. “Spanish and Portuguese Territorial Limits. Communications were made to the Foreign Office on the subject of Spanish and Portuguese Territorial Limits, and, in reply, the Association was informed that His Majesty’s Government did not recognise any claims of the Spanish or Portuguese Governments to exercise jurisdiction over British vessels beyond the three-mile limit.”1230Fish Trades Gazette, 10th Dec. 1904, p. 23. London.Boletin Oficial de la Liga Marítima Española;Vida Marítima, Revista de Navegación y Comercio, Pesquerias, &c.Madrid. In 1905 no less than forty-five English trawlers, as well as four German trawlers and one Spanish, landed fish at Lisbon and Oporto, which had been caught in neighbouring waters and as far as Morocco, the value being 332,220 milreis, or about £74,750.Estatistica das Pescas Maritimas, Anno de 1905.Lisboa, 1907.1231A summary of this new law, which received the sanction of the King of Portugal on 26th October 1909, is given inMitteilungen des Deutschen Seefischerei-Vereinsfor February 1910 (Bd. xxvi. No. 2), fromDiario do Governo, No. 247, viz.: Portugiesisches Gesetz betreffend das Verbot für fremde Fahrzeuge zum Fischen in den territorialen Gewässern. “Art. 1. In den portugiesischen Territorialgewässern innerhalb einer Zone von 3 Seemeilen, von der Linie des Niedrigstwasserstandes an gerechnet, ist fremden Fahrzeugen das Fischen verboten. In den Buchten ist die Zone von 3 Seemeilen gemäss den Grundsätsen des internationalen Rechts zu berechnen.”1232Tratado de comercio con el emperador de Marruecos, 20th November 1861,Revista de Pesca Marítima, xiv. 149, 1898. López y Medina,op cit., 72.1233This is also the interpretation made by Mr Arctander (Norsk Fiskeritidende, Tolvte Aargang, 1893, p. 464) of the wording of the ordinances, that the line must be drawn through points that lie above the water at high tide (flod), the rule thus differing from the usual one. On the other hand, the Norwegian Department of the Interior, in replying to certain queries from the International Law Association, stated, with reference to the royal ordinance of 1812 (see p. 653), that “it is not expressly said whether the distance is to be reckoned at half-tide, high-water, or low-water”; and they did not suggest which ought to be adopted.Rep., Seventeenth Conference, 1895, p. 301. The Danish terms agree with the Swedish.See p. 655.1234Professor Auber thus states the practice in Norway: “Nous avons regardé comme tout naturel que, l’île n’étant pas située plus qu’à, deux anciens milles marins (deux quinzièmes de degré) de la terre ferme, l’étendue de la mer territoriale doive être compter jusqu’à un mille au delà de l’île, et ainsi de suite d’île en île” (Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit Internationalfor 1889, p. 139). M. Kleen, on the other hand, speaks of the outermost isle being included “sous la condition que cette île ou ce brisant ne soit pas situé plus loin de la côte qu’une lieu géographique” (Fifteenth Ann. Rep., Internat. Law Association, p. 20). The Norwegian law refers to “the island or islet farthest from the mainland, and not covered by the sea,” while M. Kleen says: “Comme brisant à compter sera alors considéré chacun qui n’est pascontinuellementsubmergé par la mer ... pourvu qu’il soit à découvert périodiquement et que la mer ne le couvre pastoujours.”1235Kongelig Resolutionaf 16 Oktober 1869: “At en ret linie, trukket i en geografisk mils afstand fra og parallelt med en ret linie mellem Storholmen og Svinö, bliver at betragte som grændsen for den havstrækning udenfor den tilsvarende kyst af Söndmöres fogderi, paa hvilken fiskeriet er landets egen befolkning udelukkende forbeholdt.”Kongelig Resolutionaf 9 September 1889: “En linie, trukket i en geografisk mils afstand fra og parallelt med en linie fra Storholmen over Skraapen (udenfor Harö), Gravskjær (udenfor Ona) og Kalven (det yderste af Orskjærene) til yderste Jevleholme udenfor Grip, bliver at betragte som grændsen for den havstækning udenfor den tilsvarende kyst af Romsdal amt, paa hvilken fiskeriet er landets egen befolkning udelukkende forbeholdt.”1236From about 62° 20´ N. lat. and 5° 13´ E. long, to about 63° 13´ N. lat. and 7° 35´ E. long.1237Provisorisk Anordnung angaaende vaartorskefiskeriet ved Söndmöres kyster, 3 Jan. 1870; Lov angaaende vaartorskefiskeriet ved Söndmöres kyster, 6 June 1878; Lov om vaartorskefiskeriet ved Romsdals amts kyst og fjorde, 1 July 1907.1238It is referred to in A.D. 888. The fishery is prosecuted from about the middle of January to the end of April; in 1908 over 20,000 fishermen, drawn from all the neighbouring parts of the coast, took part in it.Aarsberetning vedkommende Norges Fiskerier for 1908: 4deHefte.Lofotfiskeriet, 1908.1239“Le droit exclusif de la pêche dans le golfe du Vestfjord, consacré par un usage plusieurs fois seculaire, n’a jusqu’ici été l’objet d’aucune disposition legislative.” Letter of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 6th August 1908. “The Vestfjord through centuries has been considered as Norwegian territorial waters, but no decree or decision as to the special frontier or limit between this fjord and the open sea has been issued up to the present.” Letter from his Excellency M. J. Irgens, the Norwegian Minister, 13th June 1908. Having some difficulty in getting authentic copies of the various Norwegian decrees, I applied to Dr Fridtjof Nansen, then Norwegian Minister in London, and later received full information from three sources—from Mons. J. Irgens, Dr Nansen’s successor, and now the Foreign Minister of Norway; by the courtesy of Sir Reginald MacLeod; and through Dr Baty, the Secretary to the International Law Association.12405th January 1881; 19th June 1880; 14th June 1890; 17th December 1896; 7th January 1904. In the law of 17th December 1896 the limits are mentioned as follows: “Paa Havstrækningen ved Tromsø Amts og Finmarkens Amts Kyst i en Afstand af indtil én geografisk Mil fra Kysten, regnet fra den yderste Ø eller Holme, som ikke overskylles af Havet, skal det indtil videre være forbudt at jage, anskyde eller dræbe Hval i Tidsrummet fra 1ste Januar til Udgangen af Mai. For Varangerfjordens Vedkommende i Finmarkens Amt bliver Grændsen for den fredede Strækning udad mod Havet en ret Linie trukket fra Kibergnæs til Grændse, Jakobselv, dog saaledes, at det ogsaa udenfor denne Linie skal være forbudt i den ovenanførte Tid at jage, anskyde eller dræbe Hval i kortere Afstand fra Kysten ved Kibergnæs end én geografisk Mil.” See also Auber, Annuaire, xi. 136, 1892; Kleen,Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Internat. Law Assoc., 17; Aschehoug, Norges nuvarende Retsforfatning, 90; Kleen,Neutralitetens Lagar, 1889;Norsk Fiskeritidende, 1893, 461.1241“Räknadt från kusten eller längst ut från denna liggande ö eller skär, som ej ständigt af hafvet öfversköljes.”Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift, 9e Årg., p. 78.1242Auber,loc. cit.1243Kleen,op. cit.; Egerström,Sveriges Landtbruksförvaltning, 1896, p. 37. It is the same in Finland,—J. A. Sandman,Uebersicht ueber die Seefischerei Finnlands, p. 145, 1906.1244Minister of the Interior to Minister of Foreign Affairs, 28th October 1868 ... “Cela s’explique: ces pêches, ayant lieu dans un golfe considéré comme faisant partie de la mer territoriale de la Norvège, out été regardées comme la propriété exclusive du pays. Cela ne peut certainement pas cadrer avec les principes du droit international, qu’on puisse tout à coup amener des changements dans une situation légale qui repose sur une reconnaissance tacite de plusieurs siècles.”1245Letter of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 7th November 1868. “Aussi il est défendu aux sujets étrangers de faire la pêche dans ce golfe, et cette défense s’applique également à la mer voisine et à l’embouchure jusqu’à une distance d’une lieue marine à partir du point le plus méridional du group d’îlots dit ‘Röst.’”1246Minister of the Interior to Minister for Foreign Affairs, 28th January 1870.124720th August 1886. “Art. 7 ... Les deux parties contractantes conviennent de considérer comme limites des mers territoriales de leur côtes respectives pour tout ce qui se rapporte à l’application des règlements de douane et aux mesures prises pour empêcher la contrebande, une distance de trois lieues marines comptées depuis de la ligne de marée basse.” A similar customs treaty, it may be mentioned, was concluded between Mexico and Great Britain on 27th November 1888, in which three marine leagues was stipulated by each country “as a limit of their territorial waters on their respective coasts,” strictly for customs purposes. “The two Contracting Parties agree to consider, as a limit of their territorial waters on their respective coasts, the distance of three marine leagues reckoned from the line of low-water mark. Nevertheless, this stipulation shall have no effect, excepting in what may relate to the observance and application of the Custom-house Regulations and the measures for preventing smuggling, and cannot be extended to other questions of civil and criminal jurisdiction or of international maritime law” (Hertslett,Treaties). It is of interest to note, however, that the ordinary limit adhered to by the British Government so rigorously in connection with fishery rights, may be legitimately extended by treaty in order to protect the revenue.1248Auber,op. cit., 141.1249Foreigners are forbidden to carry on fishing within the territorial waters, the most recent law relative to this subject being that of 2nd June 1906. Instructions to the commanders of the Norwegian cruisers, dated 22nd December 1906, with reference thereto, describe the limit as an “ordinary sea mile” (measured as described), the equivalent distance being stated at 7529 metres, which is equal to 4·065 mean nautical miles, or 4·68 English statute miles. A law of 1908 prohibits trawl-fishing within the territorial waters.1250Le Droit International, i. 349;Dict. de Droit International, 501. Bluntschli endeavours to place the doctrine on a philosophical but absurd basis, by stating that the sovereignty over the sea extended originally only to a stone’s-throw from the coast, later to an arrow-shot, and then according to the range of firearms.1251Das Moderne Völkerrecht, s. 307-9.1252Commentaries upon International Law, I. viii. cxcviii.1253International Law, 135.1254Commentaries on Criminal Law, iv. c. 5, s. 74.1255Introduction to the Study of International Law, s. 56.1256Wheaton’sInternational Law, 8th ed., p. 359.1257The Law of Nations in Time of Peace, s. 172.1258Trattato di Diritto Internazionale Pubblico, ii. c. 3, pp. 65-67.1259In Fiore,Nouveau Droit International Public, note, p. 372.1260Das Internationale Öffentliche Seerecht der Gegenwart, p. 21et seq.1261International Law, 399.1262Droit Commercial Maritime, 10.1263La Mer Territoriale, 36.1264Neutralitetens Lagar, i. s. 160;Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xii. 140.1265Norges Offentlige Ret, 79-81;Annuaire, xi. 141.1266Revue générale de Droit International Public, No. 1.1267A Treatise on International Law, 4th edition, 1895, p. 160.1268International Law, i. 242 (1905).1269The Committee of the Association was composed of ten members—viz., Sir Travers Twiss, President; Sir George Baden-Powell; Hon. D. Dudley Field, New York; Dr F. Sieveking, President of the Hanseatic High Court of Appeal, Hamburg; Mr E. H. Schweigaard, Christiania; Rear-Admiral P. H. Colomb; E. Edouard Clunet, Paris; Dr E. N. Rahusen, Amsterdam; Mr T. H. Haynes; and Mr (now Sir) Thomas Barclay, Paris, who was Secretary. The Committee of the Institut comprised twenty-four members, including Sir Travers Twiss; Professor Westlake; Professor Lorimer; M. Desjardins, Advocate-General of the Court of Cassation; Feraud-Giraud, Judge of the French Court of Cassation; Harburger, Judge of the Court of First Instance at Munich; Hartmann, Privy Councillor, Hanover; Perels, Director of the German Admiralty; Marquis d’Olivart, Ex-Professor of International Law, Madrid; Edouard Rolin, Editor of theRevue de Droit International; &c. M. Renault, the Paris Professor of International Law, was appointed “reporter” to the Committee, but this position was soon occupied by Sir Thomas Barclay.1270Most of the English members who expressed their opinion, as Sir Travers Twiss, Professor Holland, and Mr Moore, preferred to retain the limit at three miles; Professor Westlake favoured five miles.1271Report from the Select Committee on Sea Fisheries, 1893;Seventeenth Rep., International Law Assoc., p. 103, 1896;Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xiii.1272“Il en est ainsi pour lesfirthsécossais.... Toutes ces baies sont considérées comme étant sous la domination exclusive de l’État riverain.”Annuaire, 23.1273Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, x., xi., xii., xiii.Reports, International Law Association, xv., xvi., xvii.127449 Vict., c. 95.127538 Vict., c. 18; Order in Council, 28th November 1876.1276Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration, p. 23. Declarations made by the Tribunal of Arbitration, 1893. As the Behring Sea case has been often referred to in recent controversies about the right of fishing, as having affirmed the three-mile limit as the true international boundary of the territorial sea, the facts may be briefly recalled. In 1867 the United States purchased from Russia the territory of Alaska with its dependent islands, &c., and an American company, very powerful financially and politically, was formed in 1870, which obtained a lease of the Pribilov Islands in order to engage in the fur-seal industry. Under the Act of Congress of 1870 which enabled this to be done, it was made unlawful to kill any seals upon the islands, “or in the waters adjacent thereto,” except during certain specified months. Sealing vessels, both from the United States and from British Columbia, began to frequent Behring Sea and the waters adjacent to the islands; their competition impaired the practical monopoly of the Company in the markets for seal-skins; and in 1886 three British vessels were seized by American revenue cruisers at distances of 70, 75, and 115 miles from the land, and the masters and mates were fined and imprisoned for illegal sealing. Up to 1890 other eleven British sealers were similarly seized and dealt with for fishing at distances between 15 and 96 miles from land, and five others were ordered out of Behring Sea. In the negotiations which followed, the American Government first pled a virtualmare clausumfor the whole of Behring Sea; then that they had jurisdiction up to 100 miles from land; and lastly, that they had special property in and right of protection over the fur-seals in Behring Sea and frequenting the islands for breeding purposes. The Tribunal of Arbitration decided that they had not this right of protection or property “when such seals are found outside the ordinary three-mile limit.” Then the Tribunal, in terms of the treaty appointing them, prescribed the regulations above referred to, leaving to Great Britain the honours of the contest, and to the United States the advantage. The true lesson to be derived from this chapter of international diplomacy, is not that the high tribunal reaffirmed the three-mile limit as the legal boundary of the territorial sea, which they did not do (see letter from Baron de Courcel, the President, p. 664), but that that limit may be set aside and a much wider boundary fixed (in this instance 60 miles) if the protection and preservation of a marine fishery require it. It may be added that of late years pelagic sealing by Japanese has greatly increased in Behring Sea, and since the regulations apply only to British and American subjects, the Japanese carry on their operations up to the ordinary three-mile limit around the Pribilov Islands, and sometimes within it, there having been several encounters with the American patrol-boats involving loss of life, and heavy fines have been inflicted on offenders. In the summer of 1908 a fleet of thirty Japanese schooners, some with sixteen boats, were thus engaged, and according to the Government agent, they effectually blocked the escape of the seals from the islands. The agent says that in the last ten years the seal herds have diminished almost three-fourths, and if the slaughter by the Japanese is not put a stop to, complete destruction of the industry will follow. Thus, while the British are compelled to keep sixty miles off the islands, and can only kill the seals with spears, the Japanese operate up to three miles from shore, and can use firearms or any other method. It is stated that some of the British Columbia sealers are endeavouring to nationalise their vessels in Japan, so that they may be able to fish under the Japanese flag. In April 1910, when the lease of the Company expired, the United States Government did not renew it, but took the seals under their own protection, and an Act was passed prohibiting the killing of the fur-seal unless authorised by the Secretary of Commerce and Labour.1277Parl. Papers, Russia, No. 1 (1895). Correspondence respecting the Agreement with Russia relative to the Seal Fishery in the North Pacific. Seal Fishery (North Pacific) Act, 1893, 56 Vict., c. 23; Order in Council, 4th July 1893.1278The Western Australian Pearl and Bêche-de-mer Fishery (Extra-Territorial) Act, 1889.1279An Act for the further Encouragement and better Regulation of the British White Herring Fishery, 48 Geo. III., c. 110, s. 60, 46. Section 60: “And whereas it may be useful to provide a jurisdiction for preserving order and settling disputes among persons carrying on the fishery for herrings on the coast and in the lakes of Scotland; be it therefore enacted, That the jurisdiction of the sheriffs and stewarts depute of Scotland, and their substitutes, shall be extended over all persons engaged in catching, curing, and dealing in fish in all the lochs, bays, and arms of the sea within their respective counties and stewartries, and also within ten miles of the coasts of their said counties and stewartries, and that in as full and ample a manner as the same is exercised over the inhabitants of these counties and stewartries; and if any loch, bay, or arm of the sea shall adjoin to two or more counties or stewartries, or any part of the sea shall be within ten miles of the coasts of two or more counties or stewartries, the sheriffs and stewarts of the said counties shall have and exercise a concurrent jurisdiction over such persons as aforesaid, in any such loch, bay, or arm of the sea which shall be in or opposite to their respective counties and stewartries, or any part of the sea within the aforesaid distance of the coast thereof.”1280Report of Commission on Sea Fisheries, 1863, p. lxvi.1281Trawling, and, in particular, steam-trawling, is practically unknown in America; but in recent years French steam-trawlers have begun to frequent the Newfoundland banks.1282Annual Reports, Fishery Board for Scotland;Journal of the Marine Biological Association, &c.1283For the earlier periods the statistics are incomplete. In 1863 the number of sailing trawlers was 955, of which 650 to 700 fished in the North Sea, 530 belonging to Ramsgate, Yarmouth, Grimsby, and Hull; in 1883 the aggregate was estimated at 3000, some being large vessels of ninety tons; in 1889 there were 230 steamers and 2323 smacks; in 1899 the steamers numbered 1186 and the smacks 1637.1284Garstang, The Impoverishment of the Sea,Journal Marine Biol. Assoc., vol. vii. p. 47, 1900.1285Return of the Number of Steam Trawlers registered at Ports in the States of Western Europe in the Year 1907,Parl. Papers, Cd. 4236, 1908.1286Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom, vol. i., 1866. The late Professor Huxley and Mr Shaw Lefevre (now Lord Eversley) were two of the commissioners.1287Report on the Sea Fisheries of England and Wales, 1879 (C.—2449). The commissioners were Mr Frank Buckland and Mr (afterwards Sir) Spencer Walpole.1288Report of the Commissioners on Trawl-Net and Beam-Trawl Fishing, 1885 (C.—4328).1289“That taking into consideration that the question of the destruction of immature fish is one of international importance, it is, in the opinion of this meeting, imperative in the public interest that an International Conference be held to consider the desirability of recommending legislation upon the subject; and this meeting of practical fishermen further requests of Her Majesty’s Government to take immediate steps to bring about such Conference at the earliest possible date.”Fisheries Exhibition Literature, vol. iv. pp. 346, 355.1290Conference of Representatives of the Trawl-Fishing Industry, held at the Inns of Court Hotel, London, 13th November, 1888. “1. That we find a large and distressing diminution in the North Sea of soles, turbot, plaice, and all flat fish, and view with alarm the future, unless some steps are immediately taken to prohibit the catching of immature fish.” 2. “That the Conference petition Her Majesty’s Government, urging them to enter into negotiations with all Continental Governments to establish an international law to prohibit the wilful catching of immature fish, and to make it unlawful to offer such immature fish for sale.” 3. “That copies of the resolutions be forwarded to the President of the Board of Trade asking for immediate action, and to the President of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association, asking that Association to undertake the responsibility of a measure for legislation, and to do all they can for the protection of immature fish in and around the coasts of the North Sea and other coasts of the United Kingdom upon which breeding-grounds exist.”1291Conference of the Trawl-Fishing Industry of the East Coast Ports, held at Hull, 30th April 1890. 1. “That this Conference of the Trawl-Fishing Industry of the East Coast, consisting of delegates from Hull, Grimsby, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Scarboro’, and Boston, having realised the enormous loss which the trade has sustained year by year through the wholesale capture and destruction of immature and inedible fish, hereby resolves that the time has come when a strong and united effort should be made to put a stop to this growing evil; and as a preliminary step in this direction, it is agreed by the whole of the delegates here assembled, for themselves individually and the Companies, Corporations, Fleets, and Associations they represent, to abstain during the coming summer from fishing on the grounds where immature fish are generally caught in great abundance, such grounds being specified in the next Resolution.” 2. “That the Fishing Grounds or Nurseries where experience has found immature fish to be most prolific, and which are referred to in the foregoing Resolution, shall be defined as follows: That part of the North Sea the Eastern Boundary of which is the German and Danish Coasts; the Western Boundary, Longitude 7 deg. 30 min.; the Northern Boundary, Latitude 56 deg.; the Southern Boundary, 53 deg. 50 min.” The third resolution defined immature lemon soles, soles, turbot, brill, and plaice; and the fourth expressed the opinion that it was “highly necessary for the future wellbeing of the trade, and for the preservation of an important food-supply, that Parliament should be asked to impose restrictions upon the sale and purchase of immature fish”; and the delegates were instructed to press for legislative interference, national and international.1292International Conference of Representatives of Maritime Powers convened under the auspices of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association, to discuss the Question of Remedial Measures necessary to be taken for the Preservation and Development of the Fisheries in the Extra-territorial Waters of Europe, 1890.Minutes of Proceedings.The Conference passed a resolution that an official international conference of European maritime powers should be held with the view of concluding a convention for the preservation of undersized fish; and another, proposed by Dr P. P. C. Hoek, the delegate for the Netherlands, that before such a conference met, “the different nations interested in the sea fisheries of European waters should collect, with as little delay as possible, sufficient information, scientific as well as statistical, with regard to the damage done by the capture of undersized fish by their fishermen.” The author, who was present, conscious of the advantages of international co-operation, if the programme and conditions were appropriate, proposed that Dr Hoek’s resolution “should be modified in the way of recommending that a joint scheme of investigation might be drawn up by the countries concerned”; and on the motion of Captain C. F. Drechsel, the delegate for Denmark, who approved of it, the delegates adjourned to consider this proposal. The result, however, was merely the tabling of a resolution, which was adopted, “That the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association be requested to formulate a set of questions with a view to obtaining scientific and statistical information in relation to undersized fish, and forward it to each delegate, in order that he may submit it to his Government for adoption”—with what result does not appear.Ibid., pp. 21, 34, 36, 37.1293“Your Committee are sensible of the difficulties of making international regulations, but are nevertheless of opinion that the best method for effectively governing the operations of the various classes of fishermen, and, at the same time, for securing, so far as it may be found possible, the proper protection of spawning and immature fish, would be to throw the responsibility of these duties, so far as the waters immediately adjacent to the various countries are concerned, on those various countries; that, for the effective realisation of this object, the present territorial limit of three miles is insufficient, and that, for fishery purposes alone, this limit should be extended, provided such extension can be effected upon an international basis, and with due regard to the rights and interests of all nations. Your Committee would earnestly recommend that a proposition on these lines should be submitted to an international conference of the Powers who border on the North Sea.”Report from the Select Committee on Sea Fisheries, 377, 1893. The Chairman of the Committee, which consisted of fourteen members, was Mr Marjoribanks (the late Lord Tweedmouth); among the others were Sir Albert Rollit, Mr Buchanan, and Mr (now Lord) Heneage. The report was presented to the House of Commons and ordered to be printed on 17th August 1893.1294Special Report and Report from the Select Committee on the Sea Fisheries Bill, 1900 (287): “Your Committee think that it is proved beyond doubt that there is a very serious diminution of the supply of certain kinds of flat-fish, particularly in the North Sea. Of late years the total quantity of such fish caught has remained nearly stationary. This fact, when taken along with the enormously increased catching power and the vastly larger area of sea subjected to fishing operations, seems to show that the ancient fishing-grounds are much depleted. The whole of the local evidence, differing in many other respects, is practically unanimous as to this point. It seems clear that the evil is a growing one, and that in default of a remedy the consequences to the fishing industry in the diminished supply of flat-fish will at no very distant future be disastrous.” The late Mr (afterwards Lord) Ritchie, President of the Board of Trade, Mr Graham Murray (now Lord Dunedin), and Captain Sinclair, now Lord Pentland, Secretary for Scotland, were members of the Committee.1295“Your Committee feel that the subject of the diminution of the fish supply is a very pressing one, and that the situation is going from bad to worse. In their view, no effort ought to be spared (1st) to arrange for international treatment of the subject generally, and especially for regulation of the North Sea area; and (2nd) to provide for the adequate equipment of the Government Departments in charge of the subject, so that they may effectively pursue scientific investigation and ascertain with sufficiency and precision what has been done, either in the way of scientific research or in the matter of practical legislation, by other inquirers and by other countries, with the view of determining whether any, and if so what, legislation may be desirable to effect the objects of the Bill.”Ibid., iv.1296E.g., “That this conference regards as conclusive the evidence of a widespread diminution of the supply of food fishes in the North Sea and adjacent grounds, and is of opinion that the only practicable remedy is the prevention of landing and sale of immature and undersized fish.” Nat. Sea Fisheries Protection Ass., 1902.1297Report from, the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Sea Fisheries Bill (H.L.), 1904 (36). The Earl of Onslow, Lord Tweedmouth, and Lord Heneage were members of this Committee.

1221For example, Leoni Levi, “No territorial sovereignty exists or can be claimed beyond the three miles zone.”Internat. Law, 112.

1222Mr Seward, Secretary of State, to Mr Tassara, 6th December 1862. The same to Mr Burnley, 16th September 1864. Wharton,A Digest of the International Law of the United States, i. 105. American ships were charged with pursuing Confederate vessels into British waters, and the balls from the guns they fired had struck objects on shore. The facts were used to show that the hostile acts had occurred within our territorial jurisdiction. Hansard, vol. 173, p. 509; February 1864.

1223Secretary Fish to Sir E. Thornton, 22nd January 1875. “We have understood and asserted that, pursuant to public law, no nation can rightfully claim jurisdiction at sea beyond a marine league from the coast.”Loc. cit.

1224Torres-Campos, inFifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations, 93. Negrin,Tratado de Derecho internacional maritimo, 1883.

1225Negocios Externos. Documentos apresentados ás Cortes na Sessão legislativa de 1879 pelo Ministro e Secretario d’Estado dos Negocios Estrangeiros. Questão das Pescarias, p. 258. Lisboa, 1879. The volume contains a full discussion of the questions between the two Governments.

1226Tratado de navegación y comercio entre España y Portugal, firmado en Madrid el dí 27 de Marzo de 1893. Apéndice Sexto. Reglamento de policía costera y de pesca. Sec. 1. Disposiciones aplicables á las aguas de cada país, “Art. 1o. La policía costera y de pesca en las aguas jurisdiccionales de España y de Portugal, quedará sujeta á las disposiciones siguientes. Art. 2o. Los límites dentro de los cuales el derecho general de pesca, queda reservado exclusivamente á los pescadores sujetos á las jurisdicciones respectivas de las dos naciones, se fijan en seis millas, contadas por fuera de la linea de bajamar de las mayores mareas. Para las bahías cuya abertura no exceda de diez millas, las seis millas se contáran á partir de una linea recta tirada de una punta á la otra. Las millas mencionadas son millas geográficas de 60 al grado de latitud. Art. 3°. Cada una de los Estados tendrá el derecho de reglamentar el ejercicio de la pesca en sus respectivas costas marítimas hasta una distancia de seis millas de las mismas, límite dentro del cual solamente será permitido á los Pescadores nacionales ejercer esta industria.” F. López y Medina,Colección de Tratados Internacionales, Ordenanzas y Reglamentos de Pesca, pp. 44, 49 (Madrid, 1906). I am indebted to Sir Reginald MacLeod, K.C.B., late Under-Secretary for Scotland, for this volume.

1227Revista de Pesca Marítima, ix. 97 (1893); x. 209 (1894). Various regulations have been lately made with respect to trawling beyond the six-mile limit at certain parts of the Spanish coast (videLópez y Medina,Primer Apéndice a la Colección de Tratados, &c., pp. 34-45. Madrid, 1907), and also on the coast of Portugal (vide Collecção de Leis e Disposições diversas com relação á Pesca e Serviço maritimo dos Portos, pp. 28, 54, 276, 535. Lisboa, 1907). In no other countries, it may be added, have more regulations been made restricting all kinds of trawling than in Spain and Portugal.

1228Prof. A. F. Marion,in litt.

1229The National Sea Fisheries Protection Association:Twenty-fourth Ann. Rep. of the Committee of Management, 1905, p. 7. “Spanish and Portuguese Territorial Limits. Communications were made to the Foreign Office on the subject of Spanish and Portuguese Territorial Limits, and, in reply, the Association was informed that His Majesty’s Government did not recognise any claims of the Spanish or Portuguese Governments to exercise jurisdiction over British vessels beyond the three-mile limit.”

1230Fish Trades Gazette, 10th Dec. 1904, p. 23. London.Boletin Oficial de la Liga Marítima Española;Vida Marítima, Revista de Navegación y Comercio, Pesquerias, &c.Madrid. In 1905 no less than forty-five English trawlers, as well as four German trawlers and one Spanish, landed fish at Lisbon and Oporto, which had been caught in neighbouring waters and as far as Morocco, the value being 332,220 milreis, or about £74,750.Estatistica das Pescas Maritimas, Anno de 1905.Lisboa, 1907.

1231A summary of this new law, which received the sanction of the King of Portugal on 26th October 1909, is given inMitteilungen des Deutschen Seefischerei-Vereinsfor February 1910 (Bd. xxvi. No. 2), fromDiario do Governo, No. 247, viz.: Portugiesisches Gesetz betreffend das Verbot für fremde Fahrzeuge zum Fischen in den territorialen Gewässern. “Art. 1. In den portugiesischen Territorialgewässern innerhalb einer Zone von 3 Seemeilen, von der Linie des Niedrigstwasserstandes an gerechnet, ist fremden Fahrzeugen das Fischen verboten. In den Buchten ist die Zone von 3 Seemeilen gemäss den Grundsätsen des internationalen Rechts zu berechnen.”

1232Tratado de comercio con el emperador de Marruecos, 20th November 1861,Revista de Pesca Marítima, xiv. 149, 1898. López y Medina,op cit., 72.

1233This is also the interpretation made by Mr Arctander (Norsk Fiskeritidende, Tolvte Aargang, 1893, p. 464) of the wording of the ordinances, that the line must be drawn through points that lie above the water at high tide (flod), the rule thus differing from the usual one. On the other hand, the Norwegian Department of the Interior, in replying to certain queries from the International Law Association, stated, with reference to the royal ordinance of 1812 (see p. 653), that “it is not expressly said whether the distance is to be reckoned at half-tide, high-water, or low-water”; and they did not suggest which ought to be adopted.Rep., Seventeenth Conference, 1895, p. 301. The Danish terms agree with the Swedish.See p. 655.

1234Professor Auber thus states the practice in Norway: “Nous avons regardé comme tout naturel que, l’île n’étant pas située plus qu’à, deux anciens milles marins (deux quinzièmes de degré) de la terre ferme, l’étendue de la mer territoriale doive être compter jusqu’à un mille au delà de l’île, et ainsi de suite d’île en île” (Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit Internationalfor 1889, p. 139). M. Kleen, on the other hand, speaks of the outermost isle being included “sous la condition que cette île ou ce brisant ne soit pas situé plus loin de la côte qu’une lieu géographique” (Fifteenth Ann. Rep., Internat. Law Association, p. 20). The Norwegian law refers to “the island or islet farthest from the mainland, and not covered by the sea,” while M. Kleen says: “Comme brisant à compter sera alors considéré chacun qui n’est pascontinuellementsubmergé par la mer ... pourvu qu’il soit à découvert périodiquement et que la mer ne le couvre pastoujours.”

1235Kongelig Resolutionaf 16 Oktober 1869: “At en ret linie, trukket i en geografisk mils afstand fra og parallelt med en ret linie mellem Storholmen og Svinö, bliver at betragte som grændsen for den havstrækning udenfor den tilsvarende kyst af Söndmöres fogderi, paa hvilken fiskeriet er landets egen befolkning udelukkende forbeholdt.”Kongelig Resolutionaf 9 September 1889: “En linie, trukket i en geografisk mils afstand fra og parallelt med en linie fra Storholmen over Skraapen (udenfor Harö), Gravskjær (udenfor Ona) og Kalven (det yderste af Orskjærene) til yderste Jevleholme udenfor Grip, bliver at betragte som grændsen for den havstækning udenfor den tilsvarende kyst af Romsdal amt, paa hvilken fiskeriet er landets egen befolkning udelukkende forbeholdt.”

1236From about 62° 20´ N. lat. and 5° 13´ E. long, to about 63° 13´ N. lat. and 7° 35´ E. long.

1237Provisorisk Anordnung angaaende vaartorskefiskeriet ved Söndmöres kyster, 3 Jan. 1870; Lov angaaende vaartorskefiskeriet ved Söndmöres kyster, 6 June 1878; Lov om vaartorskefiskeriet ved Romsdals amts kyst og fjorde, 1 July 1907.

1238It is referred to in A.D. 888. The fishery is prosecuted from about the middle of January to the end of April; in 1908 over 20,000 fishermen, drawn from all the neighbouring parts of the coast, took part in it.Aarsberetning vedkommende Norges Fiskerier for 1908: 4deHefte.Lofotfiskeriet, 1908.

1239“Le droit exclusif de la pêche dans le golfe du Vestfjord, consacré par un usage plusieurs fois seculaire, n’a jusqu’ici été l’objet d’aucune disposition legislative.” Letter of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 6th August 1908. “The Vestfjord through centuries has been considered as Norwegian territorial waters, but no decree or decision as to the special frontier or limit between this fjord and the open sea has been issued up to the present.” Letter from his Excellency M. J. Irgens, the Norwegian Minister, 13th June 1908. Having some difficulty in getting authentic copies of the various Norwegian decrees, I applied to Dr Fridtjof Nansen, then Norwegian Minister in London, and later received full information from three sources—from Mons. J. Irgens, Dr Nansen’s successor, and now the Foreign Minister of Norway; by the courtesy of Sir Reginald MacLeod; and through Dr Baty, the Secretary to the International Law Association.

12405th January 1881; 19th June 1880; 14th June 1890; 17th December 1896; 7th January 1904. In the law of 17th December 1896 the limits are mentioned as follows: “Paa Havstrækningen ved Tromsø Amts og Finmarkens Amts Kyst i en Afstand af indtil én geografisk Mil fra Kysten, regnet fra den yderste Ø eller Holme, som ikke overskylles af Havet, skal det indtil videre være forbudt at jage, anskyde eller dræbe Hval i Tidsrummet fra 1ste Januar til Udgangen af Mai. For Varangerfjordens Vedkommende i Finmarkens Amt bliver Grændsen for den fredede Strækning udad mod Havet en ret Linie trukket fra Kibergnæs til Grændse, Jakobselv, dog saaledes, at det ogsaa udenfor denne Linie skal være forbudt i den ovenanførte Tid at jage, anskyde eller dræbe Hval i kortere Afstand fra Kysten ved Kibergnæs end én geografisk Mil.” See also Auber, Annuaire, xi. 136, 1892; Kleen,Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Internat. Law Assoc., 17; Aschehoug, Norges nuvarende Retsforfatning, 90; Kleen,Neutralitetens Lagar, 1889;Norsk Fiskeritidende, 1893, 461.

1241“Räknadt från kusten eller längst ut från denna liggande ö eller skär, som ej ständigt af hafvet öfversköljes.”Svensk Fiskeri Tidskrift, 9e Årg., p. 78.

1242Auber,loc. cit.

1243Kleen,op. cit.; Egerström,Sveriges Landtbruksförvaltning, 1896, p. 37. It is the same in Finland,—J. A. Sandman,Uebersicht ueber die Seefischerei Finnlands, p. 145, 1906.

1244Minister of the Interior to Minister of Foreign Affairs, 28th October 1868 ... “Cela s’explique: ces pêches, ayant lieu dans un golfe considéré comme faisant partie de la mer territoriale de la Norvège, out été regardées comme la propriété exclusive du pays. Cela ne peut certainement pas cadrer avec les principes du droit international, qu’on puisse tout à coup amener des changements dans une situation légale qui repose sur une reconnaissance tacite de plusieurs siècles.”

1245Letter of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, 7th November 1868. “Aussi il est défendu aux sujets étrangers de faire la pêche dans ce golfe, et cette défense s’applique également à la mer voisine et à l’embouchure jusqu’à une distance d’une lieue marine à partir du point le plus méridional du group d’îlots dit ‘Röst.’”

1246Minister of the Interior to Minister for Foreign Affairs, 28th January 1870.

124720th August 1886. “Art. 7 ... Les deux parties contractantes conviennent de considérer comme limites des mers territoriales de leur côtes respectives pour tout ce qui se rapporte à l’application des règlements de douane et aux mesures prises pour empêcher la contrebande, une distance de trois lieues marines comptées depuis de la ligne de marée basse.” A similar customs treaty, it may be mentioned, was concluded between Mexico and Great Britain on 27th November 1888, in which three marine leagues was stipulated by each country “as a limit of their territorial waters on their respective coasts,” strictly for customs purposes. “The two Contracting Parties agree to consider, as a limit of their territorial waters on their respective coasts, the distance of three marine leagues reckoned from the line of low-water mark. Nevertheless, this stipulation shall have no effect, excepting in what may relate to the observance and application of the Custom-house Regulations and the measures for preventing smuggling, and cannot be extended to other questions of civil and criminal jurisdiction or of international maritime law” (Hertslett,Treaties). It is of interest to note, however, that the ordinary limit adhered to by the British Government so rigorously in connection with fishery rights, may be legitimately extended by treaty in order to protect the revenue.

1248Auber,op. cit., 141.

1249Foreigners are forbidden to carry on fishing within the territorial waters, the most recent law relative to this subject being that of 2nd June 1906. Instructions to the commanders of the Norwegian cruisers, dated 22nd December 1906, with reference thereto, describe the limit as an “ordinary sea mile” (measured as described), the equivalent distance being stated at 7529 metres, which is equal to 4·065 mean nautical miles, or 4·68 English statute miles. A law of 1908 prohibits trawl-fishing within the territorial waters.

1250Le Droit International, i. 349;Dict. de Droit International, 501. Bluntschli endeavours to place the doctrine on a philosophical but absurd basis, by stating that the sovereignty over the sea extended originally only to a stone’s-throw from the coast, later to an arrow-shot, and then according to the range of firearms.

1251Das Moderne Völkerrecht, s. 307-9.

1252Commentaries upon International Law, I. viii. cxcviii.

1253International Law, 135.

1254Commentaries on Criminal Law, iv. c. 5, s. 74.

1255Introduction to the Study of International Law, s. 56.

1256Wheaton’sInternational Law, 8th ed., p. 359.

1257The Law of Nations in Time of Peace, s. 172.

1258Trattato di Diritto Internazionale Pubblico, ii. c. 3, pp. 65-67.

1259In Fiore,Nouveau Droit International Public, note, p. 372.

1260Das Internationale Öffentliche Seerecht der Gegenwart, p. 21et seq.

1261International Law, 399.

1262Droit Commercial Maritime, 10.

1263La Mer Territoriale, 36.

1264Neutralitetens Lagar, i. s. 160;Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xii. 140.

1265Norges Offentlige Ret, 79-81;Annuaire, xi. 141.

1266Revue générale de Droit International Public, No. 1.

1267A Treatise on International Law, 4th edition, 1895, p. 160.

1268International Law, i. 242 (1905).

1269The Committee of the Association was composed of ten members—viz., Sir Travers Twiss, President; Sir George Baden-Powell; Hon. D. Dudley Field, New York; Dr F. Sieveking, President of the Hanseatic High Court of Appeal, Hamburg; Mr E. H. Schweigaard, Christiania; Rear-Admiral P. H. Colomb; E. Edouard Clunet, Paris; Dr E. N. Rahusen, Amsterdam; Mr T. H. Haynes; and Mr (now Sir) Thomas Barclay, Paris, who was Secretary. The Committee of the Institut comprised twenty-four members, including Sir Travers Twiss; Professor Westlake; Professor Lorimer; M. Desjardins, Advocate-General of the Court of Cassation; Feraud-Giraud, Judge of the French Court of Cassation; Harburger, Judge of the Court of First Instance at Munich; Hartmann, Privy Councillor, Hanover; Perels, Director of the German Admiralty; Marquis d’Olivart, Ex-Professor of International Law, Madrid; Edouard Rolin, Editor of theRevue de Droit International; &c. M. Renault, the Paris Professor of International Law, was appointed “reporter” to the Committee, but this position was soon occupied by Sir Thomas Barclay.

1270Most of the English members who expressed their opinion, as Sir Travers Twiss, Professor Holland, and Mr Moore, preferred to retain the limit at three miles; Professor Westlake favoured five miles.

1271Report from the Select Committee on Sea Fisheries, 1893;Seventeenth Rep., International Law Assoc., p. 103, 1896;Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, xiii.

1272“Il en est ainsi pour lesfirthsécossais.... Toutes ces baies sont considérées comme étant sous la domination exclusive de l’État riverain.”Annuaire, 23.

1273Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International, x., xi., xii., xiii.Reports, International Law Association, xv., xvi., xvii.

127449 Vict., c. 95.

127538 Vict., c. 18; Order in Council, 28th November 1876.

1276Award of the Tribunal of Arbitration, p. 23. Declarations made by the Tribunal of Arbitration, 1893. As the Behring Sea case has been often referred to in recent controversies about the right of fishing, as having affirmed the three-mile limit as the true international boundary of the territorial sea, the facts may be briefly recalled. In 1867 the United States purchased from Russia the territory of Alaska with its dependent islands, &c., and an American company, very powerful financially and politically, was formed in 1870, which obtained a lease of the Pribilov Islands in order to engage in the fur-seal industry. Under the Act of Congress of 1870 which enabled this to be done, it was made unlawful to kill any seals upon the islands, “or in the waters adjacent thereto,” except during certain specified months. Sealing vessels, both from the United States and from British Columbia, began to frequent Behring Sea and the waters adjacent to the islands; their competition impaired the practical monopoly of the Company in the markets for seal-skins; and in 1886 three British vessels were seized by American revenue cruisers at distances of 70, 75, and 115 miles from the land, and the masters and mates were fined and imprisoned for illegal sealing. Up to 1890 other eleven British sealers were similarly seized and dealt with for fishing at distances between 15 and 96 miles from land, and five others were ordered out of Behring Sea. In the negotiations which followed, the American Government first pled a virtualmare clausumfor the whole of Behring Sea; then that they had jurisdiction up to 100 miles from land; and lastly, that they had special property in and right of protection over the fur-seals in Behring Sea and frequenting the islands for breeding purposes. The Tribunal of Arbitration decided that they had not this right of protection or property “when such seals are found outside the ordinary three-mile limit.” Then the Tribunal, in terms of the treaty appointing them, prescribed the regulations above referred to, leaving to Great Britain the honours of the contest, and to the United States the advantage. The true lesson to be derived from this chapter of international diplomacy, is not that the high tribunal reaffirmed the three-mile limit as the legal boundary of the territorial sea, which they did not do (see letter from Baron de Courcel, the President, p. 664), but that that limit may be set aside and a much wider boundary fixed (in this instance 60 miles) if the protection and preservation of a marine fishery require it. It may be added that of late years pelagic sealing by Japanese has greatly increased in Behring Sea, and since the regulations apply only to British and American subjects, the Japanese carry on their operations up to the ordinary three-mile limit around the Pribilov Islands, and sometimes within it, there having been several encounters with the American patrol-boats involving loss of life, and heavy fines have been inflicted on offenders. In the summer of 1908 a fleet of thirty Japanese schooners, some with sixteen boats, were thus engaged, and according to the Government agent, they effectually blocked the escape of the seals from the islands. The agent says that in the last ten years the seal herds have diminished almost three-fourths, and if the slaughter by the Japanese is not put a stop to, complete destruction of the industry will follow. Thus, while the British are compelled to keep sixty miles off the islands, and can only kill the seals with spears, the Japanese operate up to three miles from shore, and can use firearms or any other method. It is stated that some of the British Columbia sealers are endeavouring to nationalise their vessels in Japan, so that they may be able to fish under the Japanese flag. In April 1910, when the lease of the Company expired, the United States Government did not renew it, but took the seals under their own protection, and an Act was passed prohibiting the killing of the fur-seal unless authorised by the Secretary of Commerce and Labour.

1277Parl. Papers, Russia, No. 1 (1895). Correspondence respecting the Agreement with Russia relative to the Seal Fishery in the North Pacific. Seal Fishery (North Pacific) Act, 1893, 56 Vict., c. 23; Order in Council, 4th July 1893.

1278The Western Australian Pearl and Bêche-de-mer Fishery (Extra-Territorial) Act, 1889.

1279An Act for the further Encouragement and better Regulation of the British White Herring Fishery, 48 Geo. III., c. 110, s. 60, 46. Section 60: “And whereas it may be useful to provide a jurisdiction for preserving order and settling disputes among persons carrying on the fishery for herrings on the coast and in the lakes of Scotland; be it therefore enacted, That the jurisdiction of the sheriffs and stewarts depute of Scotland, and their substitutes, shall be extended over all persons engaged in catching, curing, and dealing in fish in all the lochs, bays, and arms of the sea within their respective counties and stewartries, and also within ten miles of the coasts of their said counties and stewartries, and that in as full and ample a manner as the same is exercised over the inhabitants of these counties and stewartries; and if any loch, bay, or arm of the sea shall adjoin to two or more counties or stewartries, or any part of the sea shall be within ten miles of the coasts of two or more counties or stewartries, the sheriffs and stewarts of the said counties shall have and exercise a concurrent jurisdiction over such persons as aforesaid, in any such loch, bay, or arm of the sea which shall be in or opposite to their respective counties and stewartries, or any part of the sea within the aforesaid distance of the coast thereof.”

1280Report of Commission on Sea Fisheries, 1863, p. lxvi.

1281Trawling, and, in particular, steam-trawling, is practically unknown in America; but in recent years French steam-trawlers have begun to frequent the Newfoundland banks.

1282Annual Reports, Fishery Board for Scotland;Journal of the Marine Biological Association, &c.

1283For the earlier periods the statistics are incomplete. In 1863 the number of sailing trawlers was 955, of which 650 to 700 fished in the North Sea, 530 belonging to Ramsgate, Yarmouth, Grimsby, and Hull; in 1883 the aggregate was estimated at 3000, some being large vessels of ninety tons; in 1889 there were 230 steamers and 2323 smacks; in 1899 the steamers numbered 1186 and the smacks 1637.

1284Garstang, The Impoverishment of the Sea,Journal Marine Biol. Assoc., vol. vii. p. 47, 1900.

1285Return of the Number of Steam Trawlers registered at Ports in the States of Western Europe in the Year 1907,Parl. Papers, Cd. 4236, 1908.

1286Report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Sea Fisheries of the United Kingdom, vol. i., 1866. The late Professor Huxley and Mr Shaw Lefevre (now Lord Eversley) were two of the commissioners.

1287Report on the Sea Fisheries of England and Wales, 1879 (C.—2449). The commissioners were Mr Frank Buckland and Mr (afterwards Sir) Spencer Walpole.

1288Report of the Commissioners on Trawl-Net and Beam-Trawl Fishing, 1885 (C.—4328).

1289“That taking into consideration that the question of the destruction of immature fish is one of international importance, it is, in the opinion of this meeting, imperative in the public interest that an International Conference be held to consider the desirability of recommending legislation upon the subject; and this meeting of practical fishermen further requests of Her Majesty’s Government to take immediate steps to bring about such Conference at the earliest possible date.”Fisheries Exhibition Literature, vol. iv. pp. 346, 355.

1290Conference of Representatives of the Trawl-Fishing Industry, held at the Inns of Court Hotel, London, 13th November, 1888. “1. That we find a large and distressing diminution in the North Sea of soles, turbot, plaice, and all flat fish, and view with alarm the future, unless some steps are immediately taken to prohibit the catching of immature fish.” 2. “That the Conference petition Her Majesty’s Government, urging them to enter into negotiations with all Continental Governments to establish an international law to prohibit the wilful catching of immature fish, and to make it unlawful to offer such immature fish for sale.” 3. “That copies of the resolutions be forwarded to the President of the Board of Trade asking for immediate action, and to the President of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association, asking that Association to undertake the responsibility of a measure for legislation, and to do all they can for the protection of immature fish in and around the coasts of the North Sea and other coasts of the United Kingdom upon which breeding-grounds exist.”

1291Conference of the Trawl-Fishing Industry of the East Coast Ports, held at Hull, 30th April 1890. 1. “That this Conference of the Trawl-Fishing Industry of the East Coast, consisting of delegates from Hull, Grimsby, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Scarboro’, and Boston, having realised the enormous loss which the trade has sustained year by year through the wholesale capture and destruction of immature and inedible fish, hereby resolves that the time has come when a strong and united effort should be made to put a stop to this growing evil; and as a preliminary step in this direction, it is agreed by the whole of the delegates here assembled, for themselves individually and the Companies, Corporations, Fleets, and Associations they represent, to abstain during the coming summer from fishing on the grounds where immature fish are generally caught in great abundance, such grounds being specified in the next Resolution.” 2. “That the Fishing Grounds or Nurseries where experience has found immature fish to be most prolific, and which are referred to in the foregoing Resolution, shall be defined as follows: That part of the North Sea the Eastern Boundary of which is the German and Danish Coasts; the Western Boundary, Longitude 7 deg. 30 min.; the Northern Boundary, Latitude 56 deg.; the Southern Boundary, 53 deg. 50 min.” The third resolution defined immature lemon soles, soles, turbot, brill, and plaice; and the fourth expressed the opinion that it was “highly necessary for the future wellbeing of the trade, and for the preservation of an important food-supply, that Parliament should be asked to impose restrictions upon the sale and purchase of immature fish”; and the delegates were instructed to press for legislative interference, national and international.

1292International Conference of Representatives of Maritime Powers convened under the auspices of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association, to discuss the Question of Remedial Measures necessary to be taken for the Preservation and Development of the Fisheries in the Extra-territorial Waters of Europe, 1890.Minutes of Proceedings.The Conference passed a resolution that an official international conference of European maritime powers should be held with the view of concluding a convention for the preservation of undersized fish; and another, proposed by Dr P. P. C. Hoek, the delegate for the Netherlands, that before such a conference met, “the different nations interested in the sea fisheries of European waters should collect, with as little delay as possible, sufficient information, scientific as well as statistical, with regard to the damage done by the capture of undersized fish by their fishermen.” The author, who was present, conscious of the advantages of international co-operation, if the programme and conditions were appropriate, proposed that Dr Hoek’s resolution “should be modified in the way of recommending that a joint scheme of investigation might be drawn up by the countries concerned”; and on the motion of Captain C. F. Drechsel, the delegate for Denmark, who approved of it, the delegates adjourned to consider this proposal. The result, however, was merely the tabling of a resolution, which was adopted, “That the National Sea Fisheries Protection Association be requested to formulate a set of questions with a view to obtaining scientific and statistical information in relation to undersized fish, and forward it to each delegate, in order that he may submit it to his Government for adoption”—with what result does not appear.Ibid., pp. 21, 34, 36, 37.

1293“Your Committee are sensible of the difficulties of making international regulations, but are nevertheless of opinion that the best method for effectively governing the operations of the various classes of fishermen, and, at the same time, for securing, so far as it may be found possible, the proper protection of spawning and immature fish, would be to throw the responsibility of these duties, so far as the waters immediately adjacent to the various countries are concerned, on those various countries; that, for the effective realisation of this object, the present territorial limit of three miles is insufficient, and that, for fishery purposes alone, this limit should be extended, provided such extension can be effected upon an international basis, and with due regard to the rights and interests of all nations. Your Committee would earnestly recommend that a proposition on these lines should be submitted to an international conference of the Powers who border on the North Sea.”Report from the Select Committee on Sea Fisheries, 377, 1893. The Chairman of the Committee, which consisted of fourteen members, was Mr Marjoribanks (the late Lord Tweedmouth); among the others were Sir Albert Rollit, Mr Buchanan, and Mr (now Lord) Heneage. The report was presented to the House of Commons and ordered to be printed on 17th August 1893.

1294Special Report and Report from the Select Committee on the Sea Fisheries Bill, 1900 (287): “Your Committee think that it is proved beyond doubt that there is a very serious diminution of the supply of certain kinds of flat-fish, particularly in the North Sea. Of late years the total quantity of such fish caught has remained nearly stationary. This fact, when taken along with the enormously increased catching power and the vastly larger area of sea subjected to fishing operations, seems to show that the ancient fishing-grounds are much depleted. The whole of the local evidence, differing in many other respects, is practically unanimous as to this point. It seems clear that the evil is a growing one, and that in default of a remedy the consequences to the fishing industry in the diminished supply of flat-fish will at no very distant future be disastrous.” The late Mr (afterwards Lord) Ritchie, President of the Board of Trade, Mr Graham Murray (now Lord Dunedin), and Captain Sinclair, now Lord Pentland, Secretary for Scotland, were members of the Committee.

1295“Your Committee feel that the subject of the diminution of the fish supply is a very pressing one, and that the situation is going from bad to worse. In their view, no effort ought to be spared (1st) to arrange for international treatment of the subject generally, and especially for regulation of the North Sea area; and (2nd) to provide for the adequate equipment of the Government Departments in charge of the subject, so that they may effectively pursue scientific investigation and ascertain with sufficiency and precision what has been done, either in the way of scientific research or in the matter of practical legislation, by other inquirers and by other countries, with the view of determining whether any, and if so what, legislation may be desirable to effect the objects of the Bill.”Ibid., iv.

1296E.g., “That this conference regards as conclusive the evidence of a widespread diminution of the supply of food fishes in the North Sea and adjacent grounds, and is of opinion that the only practicable remedy is the prevention of landing and sale of immature and undersized fish.” Nat. Sea Fisheries Protection Ass., 1902.

1297Report from, the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Sea Fisheries Bill (H.L.), 1904 (36). The Earl of Onslow, Lord Tweedmouth, and Lord Heneage were members of this Committee.

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