THE FISHERY CONVENTIONS 645 



except under certain circumstances, " shall not approach nearer 

 to any part of the coasts of the other country than the limit 

 of three miles specified in Article ix. of the convention." l 



In the convention of 1852 between Great Britain and 

 Belgium, which was simply entitled "relative to fishery," 

 without any particular purpose, seas, or regions being specified, 

 it was stipulated that " Belgian subjects shall enjoy, in regard 

 to fishery along the coast of the United Kingdom of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, the treatment of the most favoured foreign 

 nation." The most favoured foreign nation at that time was 

 France, and although no distance was fixed in the Belgian 

 treaty, there is no doubt the three-mile limit applied, and was 

 indeed, as stated above, enforced, on the east coast of Scotland 

 against the Belgians as well as against the French. 



In the convention of 1867 the same limit was assigned 

 "" along the whole extent of the coasts " of the two countries ; 

 and the provisions of the convention were expressly stated to 

 apply beyond the exclusive fishery limits, in the one case " to 

 the seas surrounding and adjoining Great Britain and Ireland," 

 and in the case of France to the seas adjoining the coast of 

 that country between the frontiers of Belgium and Spain ; and 

 the object of the convention was "relative to fisheries in the 

 seas between Great Britain and France." As already stated, 

 this treaty, with an unimportant exception, did not come into 

 effect, and the convention of 1839 remained in force. 2 



As no other treaties exist defining the exclusive fishery 

 limits along our coasts than those referred to, the position in 



1 6 & 7 Viet., c. 79 (1843). The international regulations agreed upon in virtue 

 of the eleventh article of the convention were to apply to ' ' the seas lying between 

 the coasts of Great Britain and of France " ; and differences of interpretation arose 

 in this country as to the extent of the seas coming under this denomination 

 e.g., whether those on the west coast of Scotland were included. The power given 

 to the crown to suspend the operation of the Act on the Irish coasts, and the ob- 

 vious intention of the Act and articles, seemed to the Royal Commissioners of 1863 

 to warrant the opinion that these extra-territorial regulations applied to all the 

 seas around the British Isles (Report, Royal Commission on Sea Fisheries, i. 

 p. Ixiii). On the other hand, it was contended that the words quoted must be 

 construed strictly, and included only those seas which were situated geographi- 

 cally between the two countries. This difference of opinion as to the interpreta- 

 tion of the phrase in question does not, however, affect the validity of Article ix. 

 of the convention, one of the principal objects of which was to determine the 

 limits of exclusive fishery. 



2 Vide 46 & 47 Viet., c. 22, s. 24. 



