Chapter LXXII: Appendix: O (9)

[1197] Fiskerikonventionen 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, 16e_ Årg., 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.

[1198] _Sixth 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.

[1199] _Norsk Fiskeritidende_, 466, 1893: Revue Général de _Droit International Public_, 1894, p. 440.

[1200] In 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.”

[1202] M. de Chasseloup Lubat, in _Ann. di Agricoltura_, 50. 1891.

[1203] Law 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.

[1205] Wet 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.

[1206] Strisower, _Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International_. 1894.

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

[1208] Handels- 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.

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

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

[1211] _Annali di Agricoltura_, 1891. Atti della commissione consultiva per la pesca, pp. 32, 86.

[1212] Definizione 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.

[1213] Corsi, in _Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for the Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations_, 83.

[1214] No. 7, 409, 2nd Dec. 1869. Apostolidès, _La Pêche en Grèce_, 86. Athens, 1888.

[1215] Dr Kishinouye, _in litt._

[1216] Civil Code, Articles 593, 611.

[1217] Reglamentendo la pesca y caza, _Boletin official_, 20th September 1907.

[1218] Reglamento para las concesiones de pesca en el litoral oceánico de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, 4th June 1909. “Art. 3^o. 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. 4^o. 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. 6^o. 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. 7^o. 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.

[1219] Reuter’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.

[1220] Award 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. _Vide_ Hall, _A Treatise on International Law_, 4th ed., p. 161.

[1221] For example, Leoni Levi, “No territorial sovereignty exists or can be claimed beyond the three miles zone.” _Internat. Law_, 112.

[1222] Mr 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.

[1223] Secretary 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._

[1224] Torres-Campos, in _Fifteenth Ann. Rep. Assoc. for Reform and Codification of the Law of Nations_, 93. Negrin, _Tratado de Derecho internacional maritimo_, 1883.

[1225] _Negocios 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.

[1226] Tratado 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. 1^o. La policía costera y de pesca en las aguas jurisdiccionales de España y de Portugal, quedará sujeta á las disposiciones siguientes. Art. 2^o. 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.

[1227] _Revista 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 (_vide_ López 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.

[1228] Prof. A. F. Marion, _in litt._

[1229] The 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.”

[1230] _Fish 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.

[1231] A summary of this new law, which received the sanction of the King of Portugal on 26th October 1909, is given in _Mitteilungen des Deutschen Seefischerei-Vereins_ for February 1910 (Bd. xxvi. No. 2), from _Diario 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.”

[1232] Tratado de comercio con el emperador de Marruecos, 20th November 1861, _Revista de Pesca Marítima_, xiv. 149, 1898. López y Medina, _op cit._, 72.

[1233] This 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.

[1234] Professor 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 International_ for 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 pas _continuellement_ submergé par la mer ... pourvu qu’il soit à découvert périodiquement et que la mer ne le couvre pas _toujours_.”

[1235] _Kongelig Resolution_ af 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 Resolution_ af 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.”

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

[1237] Provisorisk 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.

[1238] It 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_: 4^{de} Hefte. _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.

[1240] 5th 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.

[1242] Auber, _loc. cit._

[1243] Kleen, _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.

[1244] Minister 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.”

[1245] Letter 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.’”

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

[1247] 20th 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.

[1248] Auber, _op. cit._, 141.

[1249] Foreigners 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.

[1250] _Le 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.

[1251] _Das Moderne Völkerrecht_, s. 307-9.

[1252] _Commentaries upon International Law_, I. viii. cxcviii.

[1253] _International Law_, 135.

[1254] _Commentaries on Criminal Law_, iv. c. 5, s. 74.

[1255] _Introduction to the Study of International Law_, s. 56.

[1256] Wheaton’s _International Law_, 8th ed., p. 359.

[1257] _The Law of Nations in Time of Peace_, s. 172.

[1258] _Trattato di Diritto Internazionale Pubblico_, ii. c. 3, pp. 65-67.

[1259] In Fiore, _Nouveau Droit International Public_, note, p. 372.

[1260] _Das Internationale Öffentliche Seerecht der Gegenwart_, p. 21 _et seq._

[1261] _International Law_, 399.

[1262] _Droit Commercial Maritime_, 10.

[1263] _La Mer Territoriale_, 36.

[1264] _Neutralitetens Lagar_, i. s. 160; _Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International_, xii. 140.

[1265] _Norges Offentlige Ret_, 79-81; _Annuaire_, xi. 141.

[1266] _Revue générale de Droit International Public_, No. 1.

[1267] _A Treatise on International Law_, 4th edition, 1895, p. 160.

[1268] _International Law_, i. 242 (1905).

[1269] The 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 the _Revue 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.

[1270] Most 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.

[1271] _Report 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 les _firths_ écossais.... Toutes ces baies sont considérées comme étant sous la domination exclusive de l’État riverain.” _Annuaire_, 23.

[1273] _Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International_, x., xi., xii., xiii. _Reports, International Law Association_, xv., xvi., xvii.

[1274] 49 Vict., c. 95.

[1275] 38 Vict., c. 18; Order in Council, 28th November 1876.

[1276] _Award 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 virtual _mare clausum_ for 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.

[1277] _Parl. 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.

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

[1279] An Act for the further Encouragement and better Regulation of the British White Herring Fishery, 48 Geo. III., c. 110, s. 60, 46.