2 4 8 THE FISHER Y LA WS. 



5. Seal FisJtery. 



The Greenland seal fishery does not, perhaps, come 

 properly within the scope of this handbook. But it may be 

 convenient to mention shortly that, in order to put a stop 

 to the reckless destruction of the young seals, an Act was 

 passed in 1875 (38 Vict.c. 18), which empowered the Queen 

 in Council, being satisfied that other Powers concerned had 

 made or would make the like regulations as to their ships 

 and subjects, to prescribe a close time for the seal fishery 

 between the parallels of 67 and 75 N. latitude, and the 

 meridians of 5 E. and 17 W. longitude from Greenwich. 

 In I876 1 an Order in Council was made bringing the Act 

 into operation, and fixing the 3rd of April as the earliest 

 day in the year on which seal fishing should be lawful. 



Conclusion. 



We have now gone through the substance of one of 

 those bodies of special legislation which, though their 

 existence is hardly known except to the persons interested 

 in their subject-matter, are of considerable extent and 

 intricacy, and may raise important questions of general 

 legislative policy. Thus it is evident that in the case of 

 the fishery laws the question of interference with private 

 discretion by the authority of the State has constantly to 

 be decided one way or the other. In dealing with fresh- 

 water fisheries the tendency of modern law-making has 

 been to impose new restrictions, in dealing with sea- 

 fisheries to remove old ones. There is not necessarily 

 any inconsistency in this, for the circumstances and the 



1 Nov. 28 : see the order in Maude and Pollock's Merchant Ship- 

 ping, 4th ed., Appendix, p. 104. 



