LEGISLATION AND THE SEA FISHERIES 171 



of food fishes in the North Sea and adjacent grounds, and is of 

 opinion that the only practicable remedies are : — 



(i) and (2) refer to the prevention of landing and sale of under- 

 sized fiish, and the transplantation of young fish. 



(3) The systematic regulation of the catching power during 

 certain months of the year to prevent the capttire of enormous 

 quantities of fish that yield neither profit to the vessel, the crew, 

 nor the vendor." 



It appears the Tyne Steam Fishing Boat Owners Association 

 of North Shields advocated that each year during June, July and 

 August — the herring, salmon, mackerel and trout season — British 

 steam trawler and line boat owners should bind themselves to lay 

 up one-third of their craft each month. It was pointed out that in 

 addition to restricting the catch of fish at a time of the year when 

 remunerative sales are not always possible, it would give the skippers 

 and men the opportunity of enjoying a well-earned holiday, and also 

 permit of the overhaul, survey and refitting of the vessels. After 

 an interesting debate the resolution was carried by forty-seven 

 votes to fourteen. There are, however, obvious difficulties in 

 carrying out any scheme of this kind, and the idea does not appear 

 to have been carried any further. 



There is finally the alternative of keeping the territorial limits 

 as defined by the present conventions, with an extension of the 

 Scottish practice of closing arms of the sea which are definitely 

 bounded by the territory of a single country. By the old common 

 law of England, bays of which one shore could reasonably be 

 discerned from the other shore were considered to be inter fauces 

 terrae, and offences committed thereon were tried at common law. 

 From many points of view there is much to be said for the adapta- 

 tion of this idea to fishery purposes. Most of our inshore areas, 

 such as Cardigan Bay or the Bristol Channel, have trawling grounds 

 which are demonstrably capable of being exhausted in a very short 

 time by the depredations of steam trawlers. The task of policing 

 an area bounded by a straight line drawn between two definite 

 and conspicuous objects (preferably lighthouses or lightships 

 which would be visible by night), would be much simpler than the 

 present work of patrolling a sinuous line following the coast at vary- 

 ing intervals from prominent landmarks. In actual practice the 

 present territorial limit is, as regards England and Wales, at any 

 rate, either not policed at all, or policed under considerable diffi- 

 culties. Steam trawlers fish with impunity right up to the limit 

 line, and often, if there is any relaxation of vigilance on the part 

 of the fishery officers, cross the line in order to make a profitable 

 haul. The local Petty Sessional Benches are loath to convict in 



