2 
were convicted and fined £10 (about equal to £100 
at the present time) for fishing with small-meshed 
nets and unlawful engines for taking small fish. In the 
reign of James I,, very strict measures were enforced 
for the suppression of the use of the illegal nets then 
employed by fishermen in trawling on our coast. For 
example :—On 13th April, 1619, the Mayor of Rye wrote 
to Lord Zouche, who, as Warden of the Cinque Ports, was 
ex officio in fishery jurisdiction and affiliated to the Ad- 
miralty, announcing that certain fishermen were taken off 
that part of the coast for fishing with unlawful nets. 
Similar proceedings occurring from time to time produced 
such beneficial results that on the 27th February, 1621, the 
Mayor of Rye again writes to his lordship, conveying to 
him the thanks of the fishermen of that port for his action 
in directing the suppression of unlawful nets. Similar 
cases could be quoted at other parts of the coast, proving 
that the fishermen, as a rule, were up in arms against the 
abuses caused by small-meshed nets. 
The Mayor of Hythe wrote to Lord Zouche on 7th 
March, 1622, complaining that the fishermen of Rochester 
and Stroud, who were trawling off that port with illegal 
nets, resisted his interference, but would answer any accusa- 
tion at London. Therefore he (the Mayor) requests his 
lordship to take action thereon without delay, adding that 
his town is ruined by such proceedings. In the reign of 
Charles I., illegal and small-meshed nets, sometimes used 
by the French, Dutch, and by our own fishermen, caused 
considerable notice, and stringent measures were adopted 
from time to time to suppress this nuisance. In the year 
1630, Viscount Dorchester, one of the principal secretaries 
of state, to whom this great fishery question was entrusted 
mainly at the King’s request, was inundated with petitions 
