(a) As a general rule, the right of fishing on the high sea belongs to all states alike, but each must respect the rights of others. In order that these rights might be defined, it has in many cases been necessary to resort to conventions. One of the most recent examples of this kind is seen in the convention in regard to the North Sea Fisheries, May 6, 1882, to which Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, and Holland are parties. The cruisers of any of these states may present the case of the fishing vessel violating the regulations of the convention in the country to which the vessel belongs, but the trial and penalty belong to the country of the vessel.[144]
(b) Special privileges granted by one state to another, or secured by custom, become servitudes, as in the case of the Canadian fisheries, and must depend upon the interpretation of the treaties by which they were granted.
By the Treaty of 1783 the United States have the right of fishing on certain parts of the coast of the British Dominion in North America.
Great Britain claimed that these rights were annulled by the Treaty of Ghent, 1814, which put an end to the War of 1812 as that treaty was silent upon the subject. The United States declared "they were not annulled by the war as they were enjoyed by the colonists before the separation from England in 1783, and so existed perpetually independent of treaty."
This claim was adjusted by the Treaty of 1818, which gave to the United States permission to take fish on certain parts of the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, to dry and cure fish in certain inlets, and to enter other inlets for shelter, repairs, and supplies.
Disputes arising under this treaty were settled by the Treaty of 1854, which gave to Canadian fishermen certain rights of fishing along the eastern coast of the United States north of the thirty-sixth parallel of latitude.
The United States took action to terminate this treaty in accord with its terms in 1866. The conditions of the Treaty of 1818 revived.
The Treaty of Washington, 1871, practically reëstablishes the provisions of the Treaty of 1854, specifying that the difference in value between the rights granted by each state to the other should be determined by a commission. This commission awarded $5,500,000 to Great Britain in 1877.[145]
In accord with the provisions of the Treaty of 1871, it was terminated by the United States in 1886, the provisions of the Treaty of 1818 again coming in force.
A law of March 3, 1897,[146] provides that the President may in certain contingencies deny vessels of the British Dominions of North America entry into the waters of the United States, and may also prohibit the importation of fish and other goods.