968 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



even when they are situated comparatively near our own 

 shores. Fortunately . . . such regulation is not, on 

 the whole, very necessary. The fish of the deep sea do 

 not appear to decrease, whilst fishermen have to a great 

 extent, by usage, established a law for themselves, which, 

 although it is occasionally disturbed by the jealousy exist- 

 ing between trawlers and drifters, and trawlers and liners, 

 on the whole works satisfactorily. There are, however, 

 exceptions, and notably, among these, there is need for an 

 Anglo-Dutch convention. An efficient maritime police, 

 sanctioned by the nations on either side the North Sea, is 

 necessary for the protection of our East coast fishermen. 

 The latter have long been harassed by the thefts of nets 

 perpetrated by the Dutch, and by the wanton destruction 

 occasioned by " Belgian devils" -infernal machines in the 

 form of anchors, which some foreign trawlers maliciously 

 drag through English drift-nets, for the purpose of des- 

 troying or stealing them. Our own fishermen, in their 

 disputes with these foreign offenders, may not invariably 

 be in the right, but facts, so- far as they are already known, 

 certainly point to the greater wrong being on the side of 

 the foreigners. A convention exists between France and 

 England, and disputes between French and English fisher- 

 men are rare ; no convention exists between England and 

 Holland for the protection of sea fisheries, and disputes 

 between English and Dutch fishermen are constant. 



The mere fact of the signing of a Convention cannot, 

 in itself, make it of any practical use, even when each sig- 

 natory Government conscientiously desires its success. It 

 is dependent on two circumstances : firstly, on the power 

 which the combined Governments may be able to exercise 

 in order to enforce it ; and secondly, and chiefly, on the 

 mutual forbearance of the fishermen belonging to either 



