Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 5, 1892
Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Foster.
Washington, D. C., December 5, 1892. (Received December 6.)
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that the draft agreement for the preservation of the fisheries in the waters contiguous to Canada and the United States, proposed in your note of the 4th October last, [Page 325] was duly submitted to the Canadian Government, and I have now received a dispatch from the Governor-General, in which his excellency states that the terms of the agreement are acceptable to his Government, as appears from an approved minute of Council, of which I have the honor to inclose a copy.
I have, etc.,
Certified copy of a report of a committee of the honorable the privy council, approved by his excellency, the Governor-General in council, on October 31, 1892.
The committee of the privy council have had under consideration a dispatch, hereto attached, dated October 6, 1892, from Her Majesty’s representative at Washington, covering a communication from the United States Secretary of State, dated October 4, 1892, to Mr. Herbert, resulting from several conferences on the subject of giving effect to so much of the understanding reached by the United States Secretary of State and the delegates from the government of Canada on February 15 last, as relates to prevention of destructive methods of fishing in the contiguous waters of the United States and Canada and in other waters, and the preservation of the fisheries thereof; and with the object of reaching a formal agreement, the Secretary of State submits the views of his Government.
The minister of marine and fisheries, to whom the question was referred, observes that the proposition of February 15, 1892, is referred to as the appointment of a commission of two experts, one by each government, to consider and report, either jointly or severally, as to the restrictions and regulations on the following subjects, namely:
- “(1) The prevention of destructive methods of fishing in the territorial and contiguous waters of the United States and Canada, respectively, and also in waters outside the territorial limits of either country.
- “(2) The prevention of the polluting and obstuction of such contiguous waters to the detriment of fishing and navigation;
- “(3) The close seasons which should be enforced and observed in such waters by the inhabitants of both countries; and
- “(4) On the subject of restocking and replenishing such contiguous waters with fish ova and the means by which fish life may be therein preserved and increased.”
He therefore proposed certain bases for an agreement to be reached by a diplomatic exchange of notes:
- I. The Government of the United States of America and of
Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland agree that a commission of two experts shall be
appointed, one on behalf of each government, to consider and
report to their respective governments, eitheir jointly or
severally, or jointly to both governments, with regard to
matters in which they may be in accord, and severally to
their respective governments with regard to matters of
nonconcurrence concerning the regulations, practice, and
restrictions proper to be adopted in concert on the
following subjects:
- “(a) The limitation or prevention of exhaustive or destructive methods of taking fish and shell-fish in the territorial and contiguous waters of the United States and Her Majesty’s Possessions in North America, respectively, and also in the waters of the open seas outside the territorial limits of either country to which the inhabitants of the respective countries may habitually resort for the purpose of such fishing.
- “(b) The prevention of the polluting or obstructing of such continuous waters to the detriment of the fisheries or of navigation.
- “(c) The close seasons expedient to be enforced and observed in such contiguous waters by the inhabitants of both countries as respects the taking of the several kinds of fish and shell-fish.
- “(d) The adoption of practical methods of restocking and replenishing such contiguous and territorial waters with fish and shell-fish, and the means by which such fish life may be therein preserved and increased.”
- “II. The commissioners to be appointed shall meet in the city of Washington within three months from the date of this present agreement, and shall complete their investigations and submit their final reports thereof to the two governments, as herein provided, within two years from the date of their first meeting.
- “III. The contracting governments agree to place at the service of the said commisssoners all information and material pertinent to the subjects of their investigations which may be of record, respectively, in the offices of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, and in the department of marine and fisheries of the [Page 326] Dominion of Canada, and further to place at the disposal of said commissioners, acting jointly, any vessel or vessels of either of said fish commissions of the United States and Canada as may he convenient and proper to aid in the prosecution of their investigation in the contiguous or adjacent waters aforesaid.
- “It is further agreed that, if required by either or both of the said commissioners, a competent employé of either or both of the said fish commissions of the United States and of Canada shall be detailed to assist the said commissioners in the preparation of their reports.
- “IV. Each government shall defray the expenses of its commissioners, and of such employé as may be detailed to assist him, as provided in the preceding section.
- “V. The two governments agree that so soon as the reports of the commissioners shall be laid before them as aforesaid, they will consider the same and exchange views thereon, to the end of reaching, if expedient and practicable, such conventional or other understanding as may suffice to carry out the recommendations of the commissioners by treaty, or concurrent legislation on the part of the respective governments or the legislatures of the several States and provinces, or both, as may be found most advisable; but nothing herein shall be deemed to commit either government to the results of the investigation hereby instituted.”
The minister of marine and fisheries reports that although the information at the command of the Canadian Government may not be so complete as that connected with the long established Fish Commission of the United States, important material has been collected by the department of marine and fisheries, and that conferences between the experts proposed to investigate and deal with the subjects will no doubt lead to a full possession of the main facts connected with the fisheries in which the two countries are so much interested.
The minister, therefore, reports to your excellency that the terms of the draft agreement as submitted by the Secretary of State for the United States are acceptable.
The committee advise that your excellency be moved to transmit a copy of this minute to Her Majesty’s representative at Washington for his information.
All of which is respectively submitted for your excellency’s approval.
Clerk of the Privy Council.
Mr. Herbert to Lord Stanley, of Preston.
Washington, 6, October, 1892.
My Lord: With reference to my dispatch No. 79, of the 13th ultimo, I have the honor to inclose copy of a note which I have received from Mr. Foster, submitting the draft of an agreement which he suggests should be effected by an exchange of notes in regard to the preservation of the fisheries in the waters contiguous to Canada and the United States.
Mr. Foster told me a few days ago that he thought, for the reasons which he has repeated in this note, that a convention was unnecessary at the present moment; and that his proposal as to the form of the agreement to be reached would be simpler and more expeditious.
I have, etc.