THE FISHERY CONVENTIONS 609 



recommended that customs and revenue officers and the com- 

 manders of cruisers should be instructed to prevent foreign 

 fishermen from fishing " within such prohibited distance of the 

 shore," to enforce the observance by foreigners as well as by 

 subjects of our fishery laws and regulations, and to protect 

 the English fishermen from aggression at sea. 



The Committee had considerable difficulty in arriving at 

 their conclusion respecting the limit which should be fixed 

 for exclusive fishing on the English coast. They were influ- 

 enced partly by what they understood to be the usage, that 

 the sea for one marine league from the shore was considered 

 to be the territory of the adjoining country, partly by the 

 practice of the Customs' authorities in connection with the 

 prevention of smuggling, and partly by considerations affect- 

 ing the preservation of the fry and brood of fish. Under 

 the Customs' regulations, vessels and boats of certain descrip- 

 tions, including fishing-boats, required a license, and the Com- 

 missioners of Customs had discretionary power 1 to prescribe 

 within what distance of the English coast they might be 

 employed. In some cases fishing -boats were restricted to a 

 distance of four leagues, in other instances they were allowed 

 to fish to within one league of a foreign coast, one league 

 of sea being regarded by the Customs' authorities as belonging 

 to the territory of the adjacent country. With regard to 

 the right of fishing, however, it was generally understood 

 among the English fishermen that the limit on the French 

 coast reserved for French fishermen was three leagues; and 

 they desired that the same limit should be applied on the 

 English coast. The Committee laid great stress on the fixing 

 of a limit of exclusive fishing in order to preserve the spawn 

 and brood of fish. It was universally believed, and stated 

 by all the witnesses, including Mr James Cornish, an ich- 



which, inter alia, prohibited the use of certain nets within five miles of any har- 

 bour, haven, or creek ; 14 Chas. II., c. 28 (1662), regulating the pilchard-fishing in 

 Devon and Cornwall, which prohibited the use of any " drift, trammel, or stream 

 net," between 1st June and 30th November, within one and a half leagues of the 

 coasts of these counties; 1 George I., stat. 2, c. 18 (1714), which prohibited the 

 use " at sea upon the coast of England " of certain nets, and the landing or sale 

 of undersized fish ; the Act 33 Geo. III., c. 27 (1759), prohibited the taking or 

 knowingly possessing "any spawn, fry, or brood of fish, or any unsizeable fish, 

 or any fish out of season." 



1 Under the Act 6 Geo. IV., c. 108, 1825. 



2Q 



