The Sovereignty of the Sea / An Historical Account of the Claims of England to the Dominion of the British Seas, and of the Evolution of the Territorial Waters

by Thomas Wemyss Fulton

Fig. 27.—Showing the area of the Small-fish Grounds, which the English trawlers desired to have closed for the preservation of immature fish.

The complaints continuing as to the deterioration of the fisheries, the Government in 1893 appointed a Select Committee of the House of Commons to inquire into their condition and to report as to what remedies might be required. The trawlers again gave strong evidence as to the impoverishment of the grounds in the North Sea from over-fishing, the banks having been “fished out” in succession as they were discovered, so that they were compelled to go to distant regions, as Iceland and the Bay of Biscay, to keep up the supplies. Some of them still pressed for an extension beyond the three-mile limit and the prohibition of trawling within ten miles from the shore, especially on the foreign coasts on the eastern side of the North Sea, and in particular that large areas in the extra-territorial waters should be closed by international agreement. The prohibition of the sale of immature flat fishes was also strongly advocated as an indirect means of closing these grounds. The Committee reported that the evidence of all classes of witnesses, “whether trawlers or linesmen, smack-owners or fishermen, scientific experts or statisticians,” showed that a considerable diminution had occurred among the more valuable classes of flat-fishes in the North Sea, which was to be attributed to over-fishing by trawlers in certain localities; and they recommended that the sale of undersized flat-fishes should be forbidden, and that the three-mile limit should be extended for fishery purposes alone, provided it could be effected on an international basis.[1293]

It does not appear that any action was taken by the British Government in consequence of this report; and as the trawlers had failed to get the large area of the German and Danish coasts closed to them directly, they got a Bill introduced into Parliament to prohibit the sale of undersized flat-fishes, in the belief that an enactment of that kind would result in closing the grounds indirectly. The reasoning on which they proceeded was this. Trawling, to be remunerative, depends upon the capture of a variety of fishes, and it is not possible by an enlargement of the mesh of the net to allow of undersized flat-fishes escaping, without also and at the same time permitting the escape of numerous large marketable round-fishes, as haddocks, as well as of many marketable soles, and fishing under such conditions would be unprofitable. It was also known that it would be futile to return to the sea the undersized fishes after they had been brought on board, because in commercial trawling they are dead or moribund, and might as well be taken ashore as thrown back into the water. It was admitted that the only effective way to protect the immature fish was to prevent the trawl from being used on the grounds; and if this could not be done by direct closure of the area, it might be accomplished by prohibiting the sale of undersized flat-fishes generally; for on these particular “small fish” grounds, or “nurseries,” large fishes are so scarce that trawling is remunerative only by reason of the great quantity of small fishes taken. If the sale of these were forbidden, then trawling in such localities would cease. For an enactment of this kind to succeed, it was obviously necessary that it should apply to the whole kingdom, and it was opposed by fishermen on other parts of the coast; and as it was felt to be extremely problematical whether it would secure the cessation of trawling on the small-fish grounds without at the same time injuriously affecting the fisheries on our own coast and raising the price of fish, the Bill was abandoned. Several subsequent Bills of the same kind shared the same fate, usually after a more or less exhaustive inquiry by a Parliamentary Committee. One of those Committees, consisting of thirteen members of the House of Commons, took evidence in 1900 from the representatives of the trawlers and others, of the character previously described, advocates of the Bill admitting that in their view it was a tentative measure, and that the direct closure of the grounds would be preferable. The Committee thought that it was proved beyond all doubt that there was a serious diminution of flat-fishes, particularly in the North Sea; that the ancient fishing-grounds were much depleted; that the evil was a growing one, and that in default of a remedy the consequences would be disastrous to the industry.[1294] One of the causes of the diminution was found to be the vast destruction of immature fish, the direct remedy for which, the Committee said, was either the prohibition of the taking and killing of such fish, or the prohibition of fishing within areas where small fish abound. They were of opinion that the former was practically impossible without prohibiting trawling altogether, while the areas where the small fish congregate could only be closed by a joint international arrangement. The indirect remedy was that proposed by the Bill, and, for reasons such as are stated above, they felt it would not be expedient to pass the Bill into law without further inquiry and investigation. The Committee were of opinion that the subject of the diminution of the fish supply was a very pressing one, and that the situation was going from bad to worse, and they recommended that no effort should be spared, first, to arrange for international treatment of the subject generally, and especially for regulation of the North Sea area; and second, to provide for the adequate equipment of the Government Departments in charge of the subject.[1295]

The trawlers still pressed for legislation to deal with the wasteful destruction of undersized fish, and continued to pass resolutions on the subject;[1296] and another and somewhat modified Bill was introduced into the House of Lords in 1904 by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and remitted to a Select Committee of that House. The Committee, after taking much evidence of the usual kind, stated their opinion that the ideal manner of protecting the fishing-grounds in the North Sea where young fish abound would be by an international agreement between all the Powers concerned, and they expressed the hope that the Government would not relax its efforts to secure such a convention. It was thought that, as the first step towards attaining this result, the Bill ought to be passed into law; but the opposition to it was too strong, and it shared the fate of its numerous predecessors.[1297]

The statements of the trawlers that the older fishing-grounds are impoverished, particularly those in the North Sea, are borne out by the results of statistical and scientific inquiries. It was calculated by Professor W. Garstang that the average catch of bottom fishes, per fishing unit, decreased in the North Sea in the ten years 1889 to 1898 from 60·6 to 32·3; or, in other words, that while the average take of each trawling smack in 1889 was sixty tons, it was only about thirty-two tons in 1898.[1298] The official statistics published annually by the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries show that the quantity of bottom fishes taken from the North Sea is declining, while on the other hand the quantity landed in this country from distant waters is greatly increasing.[1299]

This brings us to the second point, in which the immense development of trawling touches upon the question of territorial waters—namely, the flocking of the trawlers to new grounds on foreign coasts. As the North Sea became, comparatively speaking, more and more exhausted, the vessels were compelled to go farther and farther away in order to maintain the supply.[1300] The grounds at Iceland, now so important not only to the British trawlers but to the Germans and the French, were first visited in 1891, and those in the neighbourhood of the Faröe Islands a little later. The operations of the trawlers were at first limited to the south-east coast, but the catches were so enormous, and the enterprise so profitable, that large and seaworthy vessels were specially built for this fishing, which became one of the most important for the English markets.[1301] Then the grounds in the Bay of Biscay and those on the coasts of Spain and Portugal began to be frequented, mostly from about the year 1902; and in the next year the operations of the trawlers were extended farther south to the coast of Morocco, as far at least as Agadir (20 deg. N. latitude), and even in some cases to the coast of Mauritania in French West Africa. The vessels fishing in these southern regions, many of them being fitted with refrigerating rooms, land a considerable proportion of their fish in Portugal and elsewhere. A year or two later, in 1905, the enterprising English trawlers opened up new grounds far away to the north-east in Barents Sea, at the very borders of the perpetual ice of the Arctic regions, and increasing numbers make the long double voyage of some 3500 miles thither every summer, and bring back from the neighbourhood of Cape Kanin great quantities of plaice for the English markets.

Fig. 28.—Chart showing the Fishing-grounds frequented by British trawlers. Depths under 100 metres represented in black; those from 100 to 200 metres in shading. From Report of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries for 1906.

Thus the great enterprise and energy of British trawlers, supported by large capital, have enabled them to exploit the available grounds from far beyond the Arctic circle almost to the tropics, and it is from those distant regions that an increasing proportion of the fish supply is being drawn.[1302] The influx of alien vessels, the most powerful and efficient fishing machines in existence, along these foreign coasts is not, as was naturally to be expected, viewed with satisfaction by the native fishermen. They see the fishing-grounds which they had so long been accustomed to consider as their own—in many cases lying within the territorial waters preserved to them by the laws of their own country, though possibly outside “the ordinary three-mile limit”—invaded and exploited by foreigners, and their own livelihood threatened. They fear that what has occurred in the North Sea will happen along their own coasts; that the fishing-grounds, often of limited extent, will be impoverished and exhausted for the sole benefit of the foreigners, and their efforts to maintain themselves and their families rendered difficult or impossible. They observe from their boats the immense hauls of fish made by the huge trawl-nets, and the great waste that is often involved.[1303] One cannot be surprised that the fishermen, and those who sympathise with them, feel indignation at the invasion of their waters by foreign trawlers, and that great meetings have been held, as in Spain and Portugal, to demand redress, and that at least the same limit as applies to natives pursuing similar methods should be enforced on the foreigners, or an international conference called to arrange for an equitable limit, or equitable treatment, which would have regard for the rights of all concerned.[1304]

From the foregoing description of the problems associated with the modern development of trawling, it will not be difficult to understand the scope and nature of the legislation which has been devised in various countries to preserve the native fisheries for the inhabitants of the coast. It may be said that in practically all of them, trawl-fishing is either entirely prohibited within territorial waters or is subjected to various regulations, for the most part with the view of allowing minor forms of trawling, as that for shrimps, to be carried on. In those countries which have a zone of territorial water extending beyond the ordinary three-mile limit, it is prohibited within that zone, as in Norway, Spain, and Portugal, and even up to twelve miles from the shore; while in some others in which three miles is in use as the ordinary limit for exclusive fishing, trawling is forbidden at distances beyond that limit. In Italy and Austria steam-trawling is not allowed within five miles of the coast. In Scotland and Ireland it is prohibited in certain specified waters, which extend much beyond a three-mile boundary. As recent legislation, or byelaws made with the authority of Parliament, bearing upon these prohibitions have given rise to much controversy, it is desirable to consider them with a little care.