American Fisheries Society 407 



time and arranged for the settlement that happily has now 

 been consummated. 



Under an agreement signed at Washington on Janu- 

 ary 27, 1909, by Ambassador James Bryce and Secretary 

 Elihu Root, it was agreed to submit certain fishery ques- 

 tions to a tribunal of arbitration, in accordance with the 

 terms of the general treaty of arbitration concluded be- 

 tween the United States and Great Britain in 1908. The 

 case is noteworthy as being the first to arise under that 

 treaty, and therefore marks an epoch in the world's history. 

 The questions which the arbitration court was asked to 

 decide, and which covered all the main points in dispute, 

 were as follows : 



Question I. — To what extent are the following contentions or either 

 of them justified? 



It is contended on the part of Great Britain that the exercise of the 

 liberty to take fish referred to in the said Article, which the inhabitants 

 of the United States have forever in common with the subjects of His 

 Britannic Majesty, is subject, without the consent of the United States, 

 to reasonable regulation by Great Britain, Canada, or Newfoundland 

 in the form of municipal laws, ordinances, or rules, as, for example, 

 to regulations in respect of (i) the hours, days, or seasons when fish 

 may be taken on the treaty coasts ; (2) the method, means, and imple- 

 ments to be used, in the taking of fish or in the carrying on of fishing 

 operations on such coasts ; (3) any other matters of a similar character 

 relating to fishing ; such regulations being reasonable, as being, for 

 instance — 



(a) Appropriate or necessary for the protection and preservation of 

 such fisheries and the exercise of the rights of British subjects therein 

 and of the liberty which by the said Article I the inhabitants of the 

 United States have therein in common with British subjects; 



(b) Desirable on grounds of public order and morals ; 



(c) Equitable and fair as between local fishermen and the inhabitants 

 of the United States exercising the said treaty liberty and not so framed 

 as to give unfairly an advantage to the former over the latter class. 



It is contended on the part of the United States that the exercise of 

 such liberty is not subject to limitations or restraints by Great Britain, 

 Canada, or Newfoundland in the form of municipal laws, ordinances, 

 or regulations in respect of (i) the hours, days, or seasons when the 

 inhabitants of the United States may take fish on the treaty coasts, or 

 (2) the method, means, and implements used by them in taking fish or 

 in carrying on fishing operations on such coasts, or (3) any other 

 limitations or restraints of similar character — 



(a) Unless they are appropriate and necessary for the protection 



