46 BRITISH FISHERIES 



methods of obtaining redress from them in case 

 of injuries committed on subjects of this country, 

 became very necessary when fishing had extended 

 to the great offshore grounds. In other words, 

 international regulation and an international sea- 

 police became very desirable. 



I have already referred to the earliest efforts 

 made to acquire this control. It will be remem- 

 bered that a convention was arranged between 

 Great Britain and France in 1839, and that Acts 

 of Legislature giving effect to this arrangement 

 were passed in both countries. The Convention 

 Act of 1843 was > however, a very defective piece 

 of legislation ; its provisions were generally not 

 beneficial to the sea-fisheries, and the limits within 

 which it operated were exceedingly obscure. The 

 Royal Commission of 1863 did its best to suggest 

 a workable and useful code of regulations, and the 

 only piece of constructive legislation effected by it 

 was the portion of the Sea-Fisheries Act of 1868 

 which dealt with matters of police and with the 

 better regulation of the oyster fisheries. This 

 Act gave effect, in Great Britain, to a convention 

 between that country and France, and it repealed 

 the Convention Act of 1843. Before it could 

 become operative on French fishermen, however, 

 reciprocal legislation was necessary, and this was 

 not adopted in France. The Act of 1868, there- 

 fore, became a dead letter so far as French fisher- 

 men were concerned ; and by the repeal of the Act 



