Spain, it may be added, after the victorious campaign of 1859-60, concluded a treaty with Morocco, by which Spanish subjects are allowed to fish on the coast of that country up to the shores, for corals, sponges, and other marine products, as well as for fish.[1232]
The extent of the territorial waters claimed by Norway and Sweden is even greater than that claimed by Spain and Portugal, owing to the method of measurement, the distance of four geographical miles being measured either from the coast or from the outermost part of the outermost isle or rock which is not submerged by the sea at high tide. Such isles and rocks are numerous on the Scandinavian coasts, so that the fishermen distinguish the waters “within the rocks” (inom skärs) from those “without the rocks” (utom skärs) or at sea, and in many places the extent of water reserved by the rule is very considerable. There appears, however, to be a difference in Sweden and Norway as to the precise method of measurement. In Norway such isles and rocks are appropriate for the base-line, if they are not farther from the mainland than eight geographical miles of sixty to a degree; and it seems to follow from the rule that the measurement from the coast or shore must be made at high-water, but this is not expressly said.[1233] In Sweden the isle or rock is spoken of as within one geographical league of the coast, and it may be such as is not continuously submerged, but is periodically uncovered, which implies a base of low-water.[1234] On some parts of the Norwegian coast the territorial sea may thus extend to twelve miles from the mainland. Bays and fjords are, moreover, included in the territorial waters irrespective of whether their width at the mouth is or is not greater than ten miles; and in including these, as much importance is attached to the islands which may lie at their entrance as to the distance between headlands. With regard to large open ways or stretches of sea partly enclosed, no fixed rule has been laid down, but Norway reserves the right in certain cases to exceed the limit derived from the general principle as above explained. On some parts of the coast special laws regulate the extent of the sea in which the exclusive right of fishing is reserved to subjects. The rich cod-banks on the coast of Söndmöre, Romsdal, and Nordmöre are thus included within the territorial waters, the base-line being drawn between various islands, in the manner described above. The first of these was a royal decree of 16th October 1869, which prescribed that a straight line drawn at a distance of one geographical mile (of fifteen to a degree) from and parallel to a straight line drawn between Storholmen and Svinö, shall be taken as the boundary of the waters off the coast of the Söndmöre district, in which the fishing is entirely reserved for the inhabitants of the country. Another royal decree of 9th September 1889 continued this boundary farther to the north-east. It ordained that a line drawn at a distance of one geographical mile from and parallel to a line from Storholmen through Skraapen (outside of Harö), Gravskjær (outside of Ona), and Kalven (the last of the Orskjærens), to the last of the Jevleholme, outside of Grip, was the boundary of the waters off the coast of the Romsdal district, in which fishing is entirely reserved for the inhabitants of the country.[1235]
Fig. 23.—Showing the Limit at Romsdal Amt, Norway.
A, The base-line; B, the line of closure; C, the three-mile limit.
This special line from Svinö (which lies about eight miles north of Stadtland, or Van Staten) to Jevleholm stretches for about eighty-five geographical miles along the coast,[1236] the distance between the islets through which the base-line passes being respectively 28, 14½, 7, 23½, and 12 geographical miles, and some of them are over seven miles distant from the mainland or the nearest large island. The extent of water reserved is thus large, the area between the base-line and the boundary-line being alone about 340 square miles; but the extent of sea included which would be outside the ordinary three-mile limit is much less than might be expected, owing to the great number of isles and islets along the coast. In the accompanying figure ([fig. 23]),the part of the coast embraced by the law of 1889 is represented, the base-line, the boundary of the reserved waters, and the ordinary three-mile limit being shown. The area of water between the latter and the Norwegian limit amounts, approximately, to 140 square miles. The figure also shows how complicated a three-mile boundary based on the provisions of the North Sea Convention would be on such a coast. It is to be noted further, that within the limits prescribed by the royal decrees a series of stringent regulations have been made for the orderly prosecution of the fishery.[1237]
Of much greater international importance is the claim made by the Norwegians to the exclusive right of fishing in the Vestfjord, an arm of the sea which extends between the coast of Nordland and the Lofoten Islands, where from time immemorial the greatest cod-fishing in Europe has been carried on.[1238] It is, strictly speaking, a strait, as indicated in the accompanying figure ([fig. 24]), bounded on one side by a chain of islands and on the other by the mainland, opening to the northwards by several narrow channels, and to the south by a wide mouth about forty-five geographical miles in breadth. The waters of the Vestfjord have for centuries been considered as territorial, and the fisheries within them as reserved for the Norwegian people; but no decree or law has as yet been promulgated respecting the boundary between the reserved waters and the open sea.[1239] Locally, however, as at Bodö, it is supposed that the line of closure runs from Moskenæs on the west to Stot on the east, which are about forty-five miles apart, and the length of the fjord from this line is about sixty-five miles. As stated below, however, it appears from a letter of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1868, that the line may be drawn from the southern part of Röst, a group of isles situated nearly fifty miles from the mainland and about 110 miles from the extreme head of the fjord. The total area within a line drawn from the south end of Moskenæsö (Lofoten Point) to Möst Fjord is over 2000 square (geographical) miles, about 900 square miles of this lying outside the ordinary three-mile limit. Within a line from Röst to Kunna the total area is nearly 3900 miles, about half being beyond the ordinary limit.
Fig. 24.—The Vestfjord, Lofoten Islands.
Another large expanse of sea, the Varangerfjord, in East Finmarken ([fig. 25]), has been closed, with special regard to whaling, for a distance up to one geographical mile (of fifteen to a degree) outside a line drawn from Kibergnæs on the north to Jacobs River on the south; and it is stated by the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs that the boundary mentioned has always been considered as indicating the true limit of the territorial waters in the Varangerfjord. This arm of the sea, claimed as territorial, is thirty-two miles wide at the entrance and about fifty miles in length. The total area of the fjord is about 630 square (geographical) miles, of which approximately 225 square miles are beyond the ordinary three-mile limit. Various laws have been made by the Norwegian Government affecting whaling in this quarter.[1240]