THE INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS 53 



at a later period. The result of this last agreement 

 was the happy settlement of the matter, and in 

 the same year the Act of 1886 was repealed, and 

 another Act was passed, 1 which gave effect to the 

 provisions of the Convention. Acts of Legislature 

 of the other participating Powers were also passed, 

 and these came into force in May 1894, since 

 which date the liquor traffic has been made illegal 

 in the North Sea, and trafficking in all other goods 

 has been made subject to the possession of a 

 licence. 



This is a very brief account of the history of 

 international fishery regulation. It will be seen 

 that the arrangement of joint action is a tedious 

 and difficult matter ; ratification of the Conven- 

 tions, even if they are satisfactorily arranged, is 

 always uncertain ; and the exact working of inter- 

 national regulations cannot easily be foreseen. But 

 the existing legislation applying to the North Sea 

 fisheries is on the whole satisfactory, when the 

 difficulties encountered in attaining it are con- 

 sidered ; and if it falls below the standard of what 

 is desirable, it is largely on account of the great 

 expense of policing such an extensive area, and 

 because much energy and elasticity are difficult to 

 apply to official methods, even by repeated Acts 

 of Parliament. 



1 The North Sea Fisheries Act, 1893, 56 and 57 Viet. c. 17. 



