IMPOVERISHMENT OF THE GROUNDS 245 



restrictions were revised. And though some 

 investigators, whose views carry much weight,^ 

 express a different opinion, this may be said to 

 be the generally accepted position. I am speaking 

 just now of British opinion. On the Continent, 

 particularly in Germany, Denmark, and Norway, 

 fisheries investigators preserve generally a neutral 

 attitude. In Germany, this may be due to the fact 

 that, at the time when British administrators were 

 calling for international regulation of the North 

 Sea fisheries, the German fishing marine was largely 

 undeveloped, and it was felt that international 

 restrictive legislation would hamper this develop- 

 ment of the national deep-sea fishing industry. 



It is well known that the deterioration of the 

 fishing grounds was a very common cry in the past, 

 and it would be an unprofitable inquiry to trace 

 the numerous representations of a decaying state 

 of the fisheries and the necessity for restrictive or 

 prohibitive legislation that have been made for 

 several centuries. It is most convenient to begin 

 with the great Commission of 1863. This inquiry 

 was held at a time when, owing to the spread of 

 trawl fishing, this complaint of the impoverish- 

 ment of the fisheries was made very seriously. 

 The Royal Commission of 1863, as we have seen, 

 decided that this complaint was entirely without 

 foundation. The fisheries were not deteriorating, 

 but, on the contrary, were capable of development 



1 See M'Intosh, Resources of the Sea. 



