122 SEA FISHERIES 



"ART. 4. From the ist of April to the 3oth of 

 September of each year the sailing trawlers (pecheurs 

 au gangui a la voile) of the quarter of Marseilles may 

 sail at any hour ; but they are expressly forbidden to 

 dip their nets before eight o'clock in the morning ; and 

 they must haul them at five o'clock in the afternoon. 



"ART. 5. During this period they may drag their nets 

 along the Marseilles coast in depths of 8 fathoms and 

 over, working seawards, except in the localities hereafter 

 indicated, where they must not trawl in less than 

 16 fathoms . . . (then follows the enumeration of the 

 localities in question). 



"ART. 6. From the ist of October to the 3010 of 

 March the sailing trawlers may ply their calling day 

 and night along the whole of the coast of the quarter 

 of Marseilles, taking care to work seawards from depths 

 of 8 fathoms." 



II 



Thus prohibitions are enacted which do not prohibit. 

 We must not be surprised by this ; for what is agreeable 

 to one party is often disagreeable to another : and if we 

 had forgotten that fact, England and Scotland would 

 remind us of it. The great Moray Firth, which lies to 

 the north of Scotland between Duncansby Head and 

 Fraserburg, is rightly considered one of the chief 

 nurseries of the North Sea. 1 Although it belongs to 

 the open and common sea, as defined by the Hague 

 Convention, the Fishery Board of Scotland wished to 

 protect it. In 1889 it forbade, under penalty of a fine 

 of ;ioo, all Scottish and English boats only to use the 



1 Depth : on the northern slope from 55 to 80 fathoms ; almost 

 everywhere else from 1 1 to 27 fathoms. Sand, muddy sand, gravel, 

 and rocks. 



