2366 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



The lobster having become increasingly rare by consequence of the 

 intensive fishery of which for some years it has been the object, it 

 was agreed that general regulations might be enacted with a view to 

 prohibiting the fishing of this crustacean or even of other fish during 

 a definite time. These regulations will be communicated to us at 

 least three months before coming into force. For the purpose of 

 fostering the propagation of the species, it was stipulated that per- 

 manent fishing gear could not be used without the permission of the 

 local authorities. But in order to avoid all contest in this respect, 

 we have asked the British Government to inform us as to what they 

 understood exactly by permanent gear. It results from an exchange 

 of notes between our Ambassador and the Principal Secretary of 

 State that, according to British legislation, these words apply only 

 to permanent establishments. Thus our fishermen will be able to 

 continue to use nets attached to the shore for the duration of a fishery, 

 and which constitute only a transitory method. Nothing, likewise, 

 prevents them from installing lobster traps and the right of taking 

 this crustacean, which had heretofore been denied to us and had 

 given rise to long debates, is now definitely admitted in law as in 

 practice. 



Besides the fishing properly so called, we also have other interests 

 on the French shore which had to be taken into consideration, that 

 is, those of the owners of drying sheds and lobster establishments 

 who find themselves dispossessed by reason of the exploitation of the 

 coast heretofore reserved exclusively to their industry. Article 3 of 

 the Convention of the 8th April assures to the proprietors of these 

 establishments, as well as to the sailors employed by them, an in- 

 demnity the amount of which is to be determined by a commission 

 of officers from the French and English navy, with eventual recourse 

 to an umpire whose choice will lie with the International Court at 

 The Hague. Every guaranty is consequently foreseen for the 

 equitable compensation of the various enterprises involved. 



It will thus be seen that to remove the risk of conflict which 

 threatened to become a disturbing element, we are only abandoning 

 in Newfoundland privileges defensible with difficulty and not at all 

 necessary, while preserving the essential right, that is, fishing in ter- 

 ritorial waters, and removing for the future from the field of pos- 

 sible conflict a valuable right that of fishing freely or unhindered 

 purchasing bait along the entire French shore. 



These compensations are not, moreover, the only ones to which we 

 secured consent. . . . [Livre Jaune, 1904, Accords conclus, le 8 avril, 

 1904, entre la France et 1'Angleterre au sujet du Maroc, de 1'figypte, 

 de Terre-Neuve, etc., pp. 7-10. !] 



