728 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



at Aberdeen read a protest, at the instance of the Foreign 

 Minister of Norway, against the conviction of the masters of 

 three of the Norwegian vessels which he named, provided the 

 trawling with which they were charged had taken place " out- 

 side the territorial limits." x 



Representations were also made to the British Foreign Sec- 

 retary by the Norwegian Minister in London (Dr F. Nansen), 

 and the men were released on 9th February, 2 the decision 

 of the Scottish High Court being thus in effect set aside. It 

 was subsequently explained that in taking this action Norway 

 was merely making a formal stand for the rights of her flag, 

 since the trawlers had been registered in Norway in a legal 

 way, Norwegian subjects were concerned, and no claim had 

 been put forward on behalf of the British Government to the 

 Moray Firth as being territorial in character. In point of fact, 

 the Norwegian Government was in full sympathy with the 

 policy of keeping the pseudo-Norwegian vessels out of the 

 Moray Firth, 3 and they immediately, after the formal protest 

 referred to, issued orders warning all owners of Norwegian 

 trawlers fishing in the Moray Firth to cease from doing so, 

 and not to expect the support of their Government in case 

 of proceedings being taken against them in Scotland. 4 It does 

 not appear that any advantage was taken of this proceeding for 

 further prosecutions of Norwegians contravening the law ; but 



1 " I, George Milne Cook, Vice-Consul for Norway for Aberdeen shire and the 

 adjacent districts, by instructions of Herr Laveland, Minister for Foreign Affairs 

 of Norway, hereby protest, on behalf of the Government of Norway, against any 

 conviction of the masters of the Norwegian trawling vessels Stroma, Sando, and 

 Catalonia, provided the trawling with which they were charged has taken place 

 outside the territorial limits, and I further protest against any punishment or 

 fines being inflicted in the Sheriff Court at Elgin on the said masters." 



(Sd.) GEORGE M. COOK. 

 ELGIN, 31st January 1908. 



2 Hansard, vol. 169, pp. 557, 558, 988 ; vol. 170, pp. 1202, 1206. 



3 A letter appeared in the Fish Trades Gazette, on 14th October 1905, from 

 Mr Hans Johnsen, the Fisheries Agent for Norway in Great Britain, stating that 

 he had resigned his membership of the National Sea Fisheries Protection Associa- 

 tion owing to the President (Lord Heneage) having prevented him from reading 

 at the annual conference of the Association at Aberdeen, with reference to a 

 resolution regarding the Moray Firth, a letter from the Norwegian fishery 

 authorities. His object in endeavouring to speak on the resolution, he said, 

 "was to clear the Norwegian flag from having anything to do with the piracy 

 practised by Grimsby steam trawl -owners in the Moray Firth, and which the 

 Government of Norway and the Norwegian Fishery Board is highly indignant at." 



4 Hansard, vol. 170, pp. 472, 1206, 1246, 1383. 



