418 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



tion that might be reasonably supposed to have been consid- 

 ered as a bay by the negotiators of the Treaty under the 

 general conditions then prevailing, unless the United States 

 can adduce satisfactory proof that any restrictions or quali- 

 fications of the general use of the term were or should 

 have been present to their minds. 



And for the purpose of such proof the United States 

 contend : 



1. That while a State may renounce the treaty right 

 to fish in foreign territorial waters, it cannot re- 

 nounce the natural right to fish on the High Seas. 



But the Tribunal is unable to agree with this conten- 

 tion, Because though a State cannot grant rights on the 

 High Seas it certainly can abandon the exercise of its right 

 to fish on the High Seas within certain definite limits. 

 Such an abandonment was made with respect to their fish- 

 ing rights in the waters in question by France and Spain 

 in 1763. By a convention between the United Kingdom 

 and the United States in 1846, the two countries assumed 

 ownership over waters in Fuca Straits at distances from 

 the shore as great as 17 miles. 



The United States contend moreover: 



2. That by the use of the term "liberty to fish" the 

 United States manifested the intention to renounce 

 the liberty in the waters referred to only in so 

 far as that liberty was dependent upon or derived 

 from a concession on the part of Great Britain, 

 and not to renounce the right to fish in those waters 

 where it was enjoyed by virtue of their natural 

 right as an independent State. 



