THE RENAISSANCE OF THE FISHERIES 157 



Before the order had been received in Nova Scotia, 

 zealous British officers already had begun to exclude the 

 fishermen of New England from their territory and waters. 

 On the 28th of June, 1815, eight American vessels were 

 brought into Halifax by a British cruiser. After a short 

 detention the vessels were released, having their papers in- 

 dorsed forbidding them to fish on the western shores of 

 that province. Upon protest by President Monroe, the act 

 was promptly disavowed by the British government, but the 

 outrage was the means of leading the two governments to 

 enter into negotiations which resulted in the Convention of 

 1818. 



Before the convention took place other seizures were 

 made by the British. In 1816, several vessels in the Bay 

 of Fundy were seized and sent to Newfoundland. 1 The 

 next year one British sloop of war alone sent twenty sail 

 of American fishermen to Halifax for trespassing in the 

 waters of the coast. 2 More seizures followed in 1818, even 

 at the time that the treaty negotiations were going on. 3 

 Great indignation was felt in the United States over these 

 seizures, especially those of 1818. It was evident to the 

 public mind that Great Britain was determined, if possible, 

 to exclude American fishing vessels from waters adjacent 

 to British territory in America. 



By the terms of the Convention of 1818 relating to the 

 fisheries our fishermen received fewer rights and privileges 

 than they had been enjoying under the former treaty with 

 Great Britain. The first article of this convention defines 

 the extent of the right of fishing as follows : 



"Whereas differences have arisen respecting the liberty claimed 

 by the United States for the inhabitants thereof, to take, dry, 

 and cure fish on certain coasts, bays, harbours, and creeks of His 



1 Ibid, X, p. 372. 



2 Ibid, XII, p. 299. 



3 Ibid, XIV, pp. 344, 360. 



