THE INADEQUACY OF THE THREE-MILE LIMIT 7ll 



such a convention. It was thought that, as the first step 

 towards attaining this result, the Bill ought to be passed 

 into law ; but the opposition to it was too strong, and it 

 shared the fate of its numerous predecessors. 1 



The statements of the trawlers that the older fishing-grounds 

 are impoverished, particularly those in the North Sea, are 

 borne out by the results of statistical and scientific inquiries. 

 It was calculated by Professor W. Garstang that the average 

 catch of bottom fishes, per fishing unit, decreased in the North 

 .Sea in the ten years 1889 to 1898 from 60'6 to 32*3 ; or, in other 

 words, that while the average take of each trawling smack in 

 1889 was sixty tons, it was only about thirty-two tons in 

 1898. 2 The official statistics published annually by the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries show that the quantity of bottom 

 fishes taken from the North Sea is declining, while on the 

 other hand the quantity landed in this country from distant 

 waters is greatly increasing. 3 



This brings us to the second point, in which the immense 

 development of trawling touches upon the question of terri- 

 torial waters namely, the flocking of the trawlers to new 

 grounds on foreign coasts. As the North Sea became, com- 



1 Report from the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Sea Fisheries Bill 

 (H.L.\ 1904 (36). The Earl of Onslow, Lord Tweedmouth, and Lord Heneage 

 were members of this Committee. 



2 Op. cit. 



3 Thus from the year 1903 (when these statistics begin) to 1906 the number of 

 tons of bottom fishes landed on the East Coast of England by first-, second-, and 

 third-class fishing vessels, from the North Sea and from beyond the North Sea, 



was as follows : 



1903. 1904. 1905. 1906. 



From North Sea . . 260,313 230,975 207,440 217,567 



From beyond the North Sea 67,625 78,216 93,395 129,697 



The particulars for all coasts are only given for 1906, and they show that almost 

 half of the total supply of bottom fishes in England and Wales come from grounds 

 outwith the North Sea. The figures are : from North Sea, 217,571 tons ; from 

 beyond the North Sea, 203,863 tons. Captain Walter S. Masterman, of the Board 

 of Agriculture and Fisheries, in a valuable report on his research work in the 

 North Sea, states that while the total quantity of bottom fishes taken within the 

 North Sea by steam-trawlers and landed 011 the East Coast of England has de- 

 creased in the four years, 1903-1906, by 39,650 tons, or nearly 17 per cent, the 

 decrease in flat fish has amounted to 23,590 tons, or nearly 42 per cent ; and that 

 " the decrease has been continuous from year to year, especially in the case of 

 plaice. " Report on the Research Work of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries in 

 relation to the Plaice Fisheries of the North Sea, 1908 (Cd. 4227). 



