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 WatersFulton, Thomas Wemyss
History
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
Fulton, Thomas Wemyss
Fisheries -- Great Britain; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History; Sea-power; Territorial waters -- Great Britain -- History
After the report above mentioned, a large committee was appointed to
discuss the business with the English authorities, and to report to
the meeting of Parliament in November. Accordingly, on 3rd November
the committee submitted the report of their proceedings with the
English commissioners, which was signed by the Earl of Monteith, the
President of the Council. They understood, they said, that the general
fishing proposed by the king referred only to those fishings of which
the benefit was exclusively reaped by strangers (that is to say, to
deep-sea buss-fishing), and did not in any way touch the fishings which
were enjoyed by the natives of any of the three kingdoms, so that the
laws and freedom of every kingdom might be preserved, as indeed was
“contained in the said instructions.” It was therefore necessary, they
said, in the first place, that such fishings “in everie kingdom whiche
ar onely injoyed be the natives be made known,” and that it should be
clearly determined what those fishings were which were called “common
benefits” that could not be “dividedly enjoyed.” With their eyes
probably on the fate of the nationalisation clauses in the Draft Treaty
of 1604, they declared it to be desirable that Scottish adventurers in
the proposed association should be naturalised in England; and with
reference to the commodities brought back for exported fish, they said
it was necessary to inquire how the return for the fishes exported
out of each kingdom should be made to the kingdom in which they were
actually taken. As to founding a burgh in the Lewes, that, they said,
would be an infraction of the rights of the existing burghs.
The reply of the English commissioners was somewhat vague and general.
It was, however, made clear that the king’s intention was that every
member, or “brother,” of the company should be free to fish “in places
near and remote, where common fishing is, or may be, used by any of his
people,” this “mutual participation being the bond of union and sole
means to recover his Majesty’s right and power at sea, and to enrich
all his subjects, and those chiefly where the greatest fishings are.”
On the other points they said, in effect, that the king would do what
was best.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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