INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PEACE 61 



but, owing to objections on the part of Russia, this idea was abandoned. Since then, 

 Germany has come upon the scene, and, true to her policy of keeping as much of the 

 world open to free competition as possible, she had objected to control over the island 

 being granted to any single Power. A project for the Government of Spitzbergen and 

 the adjacent islands by a commission of the three contiguous Powers, Sweden, Norway 

 and Russia, drawn up and submitted to the other Powers, was amended to meet certain 

 observations. The three Powers met at Christiania from January 15 to 26, 1912, 

 and the agreement then finally adopted has now been ratified. 



This document guarantees equality of rights to subjects and citizens of all Powers 

 alike while declaring that the islands continue to retain their character of terra nullius. 

 The rather ambiguous sense of terra nullius is explained in a chapter of the Convention 

 itself. The term is used more especially in respect of sovereignty, inasmuch as the 

 island belongs to no Power, is not annexable and is permanently neutral. However, as 

 regards property, all the soil is public property (Art. 41) and only rights of occupation 

 are grantable. It will be interesting to see how this condominium, which resembles to 

 some extent the Anglo-French regime in the New Hebrides, will develop as a practical 

 method of dealing with hitherto unoccupied territory. 



IV. Territorial Waters. 



The problems connected with territorial waters continue to perplex Foreign Offices 

 in Northern Europe. The contention between the English trawlers and the Scottish 

 line fishermen in Moray Firth, the one for freedom to fish outside the three-mile limit 

 without reference to ultimate consequences detrimental to the fish supply itself, and the 

 other for protection of the spawning beds and against the destruction of immature fish 

 in the trawl-nets, continue to be a source of trouble, especially owing to the fact that the 

 trawling interest can elude the operation of the Scottish Acts by registering their vessels 

 in a foreign port and carrying a foreign flag. 



The difficulty in the way of a solution of the problem is the existence of a rule-of- 

 thumb practice which embraces in one formula fishery questions and those which are 

 involved in the law of neutrality. The experience of the last few years has only accen- 

 tuated the need of separating the two subjects. The investigations of the International 

 Council for the exploration of the North Sea may " bring the exercise of sea-fishing more 

 into accord with the natural conditions regulating the growth and increase of fish in 

 neighbouring seas and thus permanently increase the supply in the North Sea markets." 

 The recent accession of the United States to the Council and the expected accession of 

 France show that the objects for which the Council was founded by the North Sea 

 States commend themselves to others not immediately interested in the present scope 

 of the Council's investigations. 



The common interest of mankind in the preservation of the fish supply, and in the 

 consequent protection of spawning areas, and prevention of the destruction of young 

 fish, may ultimately entail a different and more complicated treatment for fishery rights 

 than the very simple formula of the three-mile limit. In fact, it may involve a change 

 of principle under which a common interest in the prosperity of high sea fishing may 

 outweigh the local interest attaching to the inshore industry. 1 



In 191 1 considerable emotion was caused among the British trawling interests by a 

 claim put forward by Russia to extend the width of her territorial waters to 12 miles. 

 The subject arose in connection with the so-called White Sea, or, to speak more precise- 

 ly, the Barents Sea Fisheries. The trawling banks extend, it seems, some 120 miles to 

 the north and west of the Kanin peninsula which borders the east side of the entrance to 

 the White Sea. The Russians, therefore, argue that the proposed 12 mile limit would 

 only very slightly reduce the available fishing area. Russia claims the sea south of a 



1 Meanwhile an interdepartmental committee has been appointed by the British Govern- 

 ment "to consider if it is practicable or desirable to extend for fishery purposes the limits of 

 territorial waters, and whether prohibition or further regulation as to the methods or times 

 of sea fishing are desirable, more particularly in relation to trawling for herring and to report 

 accordingly." Times, June 28, 1912. 



