INTERNATIONAL REGULATIONS OF FISHERIES ON THE HIGH SEAS. III 
fisheries and to prevent the destruction of property. As determined by the 
results accomplished, this is doubtless the most important of all international 
fishery regulations. In 1901 Denmark and Great Britain applied the provisions 
of this convention to their fisheries in the waters surrounding Iceland and the 
Faroe Islands. 
The submarine cable convention of 1884 interdicted fishing in the vicinity of 
cables and cable ships. Strictly speaking, this has never interfered materially 
with fishery operations, but the convention is important in that the restriction 
on the fisheries has been agreed to by nearly every important nation. 
The convention of 1899 between Sweden and Denmark authorized the 
subjects of each of these nations to fish in certain territorial waters of the other 
and also provided against the destruction of fishing gear operated in the waters 
between the two countries. In 1907 this convention was supplemented by a 
declaration that plaice under a designated length should not be caught or landed 
from the waters of the Cattegat or The Sound. 
In all of the conventions noted the interests of the signatory powers were 
fairly mutual and the restrictions bore evenly on the subjects of the several 
nationalities. But in 1893 an international agreement occurred which was 
unique in that the interests of the powers were in absolute conflict. This was 
the Bering Sea arbitration between Great Britain and the United States, which 
was intended to restrict the scope of the pelagic fur-seal fishery, prosecuted 
almost exclusively by subjects of Great Britain, with a consequent and corre- 
sponding advantage in the yield on the Pribilof Islands, under the exclusive 
jurisdiction of the United States. Although the practical results of the regula- 
tions established by that tribunal of arbitration have been far short of what 
was expected, from the standpoint of international law this is the most important 
of all fishery agreements applicable on the high seas, owing to the numerous 
and lengthy arguments presented in the tribunal and the influence of their 
decision. 
From the foregoing it appears then that the international fishery regu- 
lations operative on the high seas have been of two general classes, the one 
for preserving the resources and the other for the maintenance of good order 
among the fishermen and for preventing the destruction of property. To the 
former class belong the Bering Sea fur-seal regulations, and in some particulars 
the Anglo-French regulations of 1843, and the declaration of 1907 between 
Sweden and Denmark. All the remaining conventions and regulations are of 
the second class. 
Aside from the submarine cable convention of 1884, which was confirmed 
by nearly every important nation, it appears that as regards the number of 
sovereign powers adhering to it, the North Sea convention of 1882 was the most 
general of all these international regulations, having received confirmation from 
Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, and the Netherlands. 
Each of the remaining conventions and regulations applied to the subjects of 
