680 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



will now seriously contest the right of Sweden and Norway 

 to the larger area they claim, unless under exceptional cir- 

 cumstances. Norway has been fortunate in this respect, 

 that her coasts are rarely visited by foreign fishing vessels; 

 but this immunity is not likely to continue. During the 

 last few years the great feature of the sea fisheries both 

 in Great Britain and also on the Continent has been the 

 enormous development of steam-fishing, particularly trawling 

 (see p. 698;. Confined for a time to the North Sea and 

 the neighbourhood of their own coasts, steam fishing-vessels 

 now regularly visit distant quarters in large numbers, and 

 trawlers from England and Germany make the long voyage 

 to the grounds off the White Sea, traversing the whole coast 

 of Norway, in quest of fish. The absence of foreign competi- 

 tion in the fisheries of the Norwegian coast is due largely 

 to the generally rough and rocky nature of the bottom and 

 the great depth of the water, which make trawling difficult 

 or impossible ; but there are, no doubt, within the territorial 

 limits, more or less restricted areas where trawling could be 

 carried on with success, and if these be discovered by foreign 

 vessels, and they are outside the ordinary three-mile boundary 

 to which they are accustomed, there is little doubt the 

 question of the Norwegian claim will be raised again. Line- 

 fishing by steamers is now, moreover, greatly developed, and 

 this method of fishing can be pursued, and is now pursued 

 by the Norwegians, in deeper water and on rocky bottom, 

 as in the Vestfjord and off Romsdal. In the summer of 

 1907, indeed, one or two British trawlers were seized by 

 the Norwegian authorities for fishing within their territorial 

 waters at Finmarken, but were released later. 1 



From the account which has been given above of the recent 

 practice of civilised states it is apparent that the majority 

 of them have adopted the three-mile limit, with a ten -mile 

 base-line for bays, for fishery purposes. There is a tendency, 



1 Foreigners are forbidden to carry on fishing within the territorial waters, the 

 most recent law relative to this subject being that of 2nd June 1906. Instruc- 

 tions to the commanders of the Norwegian cruisers, dated 22nd December 1906, 

 with reference thereto, describe the limit as an " ordinary sea mile " (measured as 

 described), the equivalent distance being stated at 7529 metres, which is equal to 

 4-065 mean nautical miles, or 4 '68 English statute miles. A law of 1908 prohibits 

 trawl-fishing within the territorial waters. 



