PREFACE ix 



temperate presentation of the British case by Sir Robert Finlay, 

 but chiefly, it cannot be doubted, to the growing feeling of 

 goodwill between the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon 

 race. It is to be hoped that similar differences now pending 

 and to come, as to the fisheries on other coasts, may be adjusted 

 in a corresponding spirit of amity and compromise. The fish 

 in the sea, as Dr Nansen has said, are not the property of any 

 particular nation. They are, if the word may be used, inter- 

 national, and it would therefore be as just as it would be 

 auspicious if all such questions were dealt with in a spirit 

 of international brotherhood, with due regard to the interests 

 of the coast population on the one hand, and the legitimate 

 rights of the enterprising fishermen from other nations on 

 the other. To this end the joint fishery investigations at 

 present being conducted under the guidance of a Council of 

 representatives of the western and northern Powers of Europe 

 may be expected to contribute, if only by providing that full 

 and precise information, without which an effective and equit- 

 able arrangement is difficult. 



As far as possible, I have gone to original sources for my 

 information ; the State Papers in the Record Office, the MSS. 

 in the British Museum, and those preserved at Hatfield 

 access to which was courteously granted by the late Marquess 

 of Salisbury have been laid under contribution. References 

 to the various authorities are given for practically all the 

 statements in the book ; and in the Appendix are printed, 

 either entire or in part, some of the more important documents 

 which are cited. 



Among foreign friends and colleagues to whom my thanks 

 are due for information kindly given during the progress of 

 the work, I must mention four, who, alas ! are no longer with 

 us : Professor A. F. Marion, Marseilles ; Professor Enrico H. 

 Giglioli, of Florence, for long the esteemed President of the 

 Commissione consultiva per la pesca, Rome ; Secretary of State 

 M. Vladimir I. Weschniakow, President of the Socie"te Imperiale 

 Russe de pisciculture et de peche, St Petersburg; and Dr 



