660 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



It is doubtful how far the three-mile limit has been adopted 

 in Italy. In a Bill of 1872 a distinction was proposed between 

 the territorial waters and the exclusive fishing waters, but this 

 distinction was not made in the law of 1877. 1 The question 

 was taken up later by the Commission for Fisheries, and the 

 opinions elicited from the local authorities at various parts 

 of the coast, who were consulted, varied, the recommendations 

 for the boundary of the territorial waters (mare territoriale) 

 ranging from one and a half miles to ten kilometres, and very 

 commonly the limit suggested was four geographical miles. 

 The boundary recommended for the exclusive fishing waters 

 (mare pescatorio) also varied, but in this case the depth of 

 the water rather than the distance from shore was held to be 

 the more important factor in deciding on a limit, an opinion 

 with which the Commission agreed so far as concerned steam 

 trawling. In view of the fishery conventions of the western 

 Powers, the Commission recommended a limit of three miles and 

 ten miles for bays, as in those conventions, 2 but the proposal 

 was not accepted by the Italian Government. The subject was 

 again considered by the Commission in 1904 and 1906, with 

 particular reference to steam trawling and dredging, but no 

 proposition to determine the boundary of the territorial waters 

 for fishing purposes was adopted. A decree of 4th September 

 1908, however, introduced a limit of three miles,, but only 

 with reference to the use of dredges in some districts of the 

 Tyrrhenian Sea. 



With respect to the extent of the territorial sea for political 

 purposes, no definition has been given in Italian laws ; it depends 

 therefore upon the general principles of international juris- 

 prudence. It is interesting to note that in some comparatively 

 recent decrees the boundary is stated to depend on the range 

 of guns. Thus, instructions issued by the Minister of Marine 

 in June 1866 commanded the officers of the navy to refrain 

 from all hostile acts in the ports and territorial waters of 

 neutral Powers, and reminded them that the limit of the 

 territorial waters was the range of cannon from the shore ; 

 and in a circular from the same Ministry in March 1862 

 it was stated that the extent of the territorial sea varied 



1 Legge sulla pesca del 4 marzo 1877, No. 3706 (Serie 2). 



2 Annali di Agricoltura, 1891. Atti della commissione consultiva per la pesca, 

 pp. 32, 86. 



