1911.

MINUTES OF CONFERENCES HELD AT WASHINGTON THE 13TH AND 14TH OF JANUARY, 1911, AS TO THE OBJECTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES TO EXISTING LAWS AND FISHERY REGULATIONS OF CANADA AS RECORDED IN PROTOCOL XXX OF THE PROCEEDINGS UPON THE NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION.

(Treaty Series, No. 554; Foreign Relations, 1911, p. 272.)

The Undersigned, having considered the best means of dealing with the objections above referred to, subject to the minute of previous conferences signed January twelfth, have arrived at the following conclusions:

Having regard to the present method of administering the Canadian laws and fishery regulations and to certain amendments which Canada is willing to make therein and to the present state of the fisheries and conditions under which they are carried on and places of fishing, the United States does not press at present any of the objections referred to in Protocol XXX which relate to Canadian laws and fishery regulations, it being understood that the right of the United States to renew such objections is not thereby in any way prejudiced should conditions change.

The amendments in regulations above referred to are:

Sub-section one of Section five of the Special Fishery Regulations, Province of Quebec, approved on the twelfth day of September, one thousand nine hundred and seven, is repealed and the following substituted therefor:

1. Fishing by means of cod trap-nets without a license from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries is prohibited in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, except at the distance of one thousand yards from shore or one thousand yards from any similar net set from the shore.

Sub-section four of Section five is repealed and the following substituted therefor:

4. If the leader of a cod trap-net extends from the shore, any Fishery Officer may determine in writing or orally the length of the leader that shall be used. Sub-section (a) of Section eight of the said Special Fishery Regulations is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor:

1. (a) Fishing by means of herring trap-nets without a license from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries is prohibited in the waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, except at the distance of one thousand yards from shore or one thousand yards from any similar net set from the shore.

Sub-section (d) of Section eight is hereby repealed and the following substituted therefor:

(d) If the leader of a herring trap-net extends from the shore, any Fishery Officer may determine in writing or orally the length of the leader that shall be used.

Sub-section nine of Section five (added):

Upon any inhabitant of the United States fishing with trapnets in Canadian waters in the exercise of his liberties under the Treaty of 1818 applying for a berth site under the licensing provisions, such a license shall be issued in the usual course for any unoccupied berth site selected by the applicant upon payment of the regular fee in consideration of the exclusive use of such site, subject to the usual rules and regulations. Clause (f) of sub-section one of Section eight (added):

Upon any inhabitant of the United States fishing with trapnets in Canadian waters in the exercise of his liberties under the Treaty of 1818 applying for a berth site under the licensing provisions, such a license shall be issued in the usual course for any unoccupied berth site selected by the applicant upon payment of the regular fee in consideration of the exclusive use of such site, subject to the usual rules and regulations.

January 14, 1911.

PHILANDER C. KNOX

JAMES BRYCE

LP BRODEUR

A B AYLESWORTH

CHANDLER P. ANDERSON

1911.

TREATY PROVIDING FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF FUR SEALS.1

Signed at Washington February 7, 1911; ratification advised by the Senate February 15, 1911; ratified by the President March 6, 1911; ratified by Great Britain April 20, 1911; ratifications exchanged at Washington July 7, 1911; proclaimed December 14, 1911.

(Treaty Series, No. 563; 37 Statutes at Large, 1539.)

ARTICLES.

I. Prohibition against pelagic seal-
ing.

II. Delivery of seal skins to agent of
Canadian Government.

III. Advance payment to Great Brit-
ain.

IV. Definition of pelagic sealing.
V. Maintenance of guard or patrol.
VI. Effect; duration.

VII. Cooperation of other powers.
VIII. Ratification.

The United States of America and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, being desirous of adopting effective measures for the preservation and protection of the fur seals, have resolved to conclude a treaty for that purpose and to that end have named as their Plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America, Philander C. Knox, Secretary of State of the United States; and

1 Superseded by the treaty of July 7, 1911, between the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan, below, p. 2965.

His Britannic Majesty, the Right Hon. James Bryce, O. M., his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington; Who, having communicated to each other their respective full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed to and concluded the following Articles:

ARTICLE I.

The High Contracting Parties mutually and reciprocally agree that their citizens and subjects, respectively, and all persons subject to their laws and treaties, and their vessels shall be prohibited while this Article remains in force from engaging in pelagic sealing in that part of the Behring Sea and North Pacific Ocean north of the thirtyfifth degree of north latitude and east of the one hundred and eightieth meridian, and that every such person or vessel offending against this prohibition may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of either of the High Contracting Parties, but they shall be delivered as soon as practicable to the authorities of the nation to which they respectively belong, who alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same, the witnesses and proof necessary to establish the offense being also sent with them, or otherwise furnished to the proper jurisdictional authority with all reasonable promptitude; and they agree, further, respectively, to prohibit during the same period the use of any United States or British port by any persons for any purposes whatsoever connected with the operations of pelagic sealing in said waters, and to prohibit during the same period the importation or bringing of any fur-seal skins taken in such pelagic sealing into any United States or British port, and by the necessary legislation and enforcement of appropriate penalties thereunder to make such prohibitions effective.

Such prohibitions, however, shall not apply to Indians dwelling on the coasts of the territory of the United States or of Great Britain and carrying on pelagic sealing in canoes not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails, and manned by not more than five persons each, in the way hitherto practiced by the Indians, without the use of firearms, provided such Indians are not in the employment of other persons, nor under contract for the delivery of the skins to

any person.

ARTICLE II.

The United States agrees that one-fifth (%) in number and in value of the total number of sealskins taken annually upon the Pribilof Islands, or any other islands or shores of the waters above defined, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to which the seal herd now frequenting the Pribilof Islands hereafter resorts, shall be delivered at the end of each season to an authorized agent of the Canadian Government in the Pribilof Islands: Provided, however, That nothing herein contained shall restrict the right of the United States at any time and from time to time to suspend altogether the taking of sealskins on such islands or shores subject to its jurisdiction, and to impose such restrictions and regulations upon the total number of skins to be taken in any season and the

manner and times and places of taking them as may seem necessary to protect and preserve the seal herd or to increase its numbers.

ARTICLE III.

It is further agreed that as soon as this Article goes into effect the United States shall pay to Great Britain the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) as an advance payment in lieu of such number of fur-seal skins, to which Great Britain would be entitled under the provisions of this treaty, as would be equivalent to that amount reckoned at their market value at London at the date of delivery, before dressing or curing and less cost of transportation from the Pribilof Islands; such market value in case of dispute to be determined by an umpire to be agreed upon by the High Contracting Parties, which skins shall be retained by the United States in satisfaction of such payment.

The United States further agrees that Great Britain's share of the sealskins taken on the Pribilof Islands shall not be less than one thousand (1,000) in any year, even if such number is more than onefifth of the number to which the authorized killing is restricted in such year, unless the killing of seals in such year or years shall have been absolutely prohibited by the United States for all purposes except to supply food, clothing, and boat skins for the natives on the islands, in which case the United States agrees to pay to Great Britain the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) annually in lieu of any share of skins during the years when no killing is allowed, and Great Britain agrees that after deducting the skins of Great Britain's share which are to be retained by the United States as above provided to reimburse itself for the advance payment aforesaid, the United States shall be entitled to reimburse itself for any annual payments made as herein required, by retaining an additional number of sealskins from Great Britain's share over and above the specified minimum allowance of one thousand (1,000) skins in any subsequent year or years when killing is again resumed, until the whole number of the skins so retained shall equal, reckoned at their market value determined as above provided for, the entire amount so paid, with interest at the rate of four (4) per cent per annum.

If, however, the total number of seals frequenting the Pribilof Islands in any year falls below one hundred thousand (100,000), enumerated by official count, then all killing, excepting the inconsiderable supply necessary for the support of the natives, as above noted, may be suspended without allowance of skins or payment of money equivalent until the number of such seals again exceeds one hundred thousand (100,000), enumerated in like manner.

ARTICLE IV.

The term "pelagic sealing," as used herein, is defined to be the killing, capturing, or pursuing in any manner whatsoever of fur seals at sea, outside territorial waters.

ARTICLE V.

The High Contracting Parties agree that they will each maintain a guard or patrol in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean and Behring Sea so far as may be necessary for the enforcement of the aforesaid prohibitions.

ARTICLE VI.

The foregoing Articles shall go into effect as soon as, but not before, an international agreement is concluded and ratified by the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia, by which each of those powers shall undertake, by such stipulations as may be mutually acceptable, to prohibit for a period of not less than fifteen years, its own citizens or subjects, and all persons subject to its laws and treaties, from engaging in pelagic sealing in waters including the area defined in Article I, and effectively to enforce such prohibition.

The foregoing Articles of this treaty shall continue in force during the period of fifteen (15) years from the day on which they go into effect and thereafter until terminated by twelve (12) months' written notice given by either the United States or Great Britain to the other, which notice may be given at the expiration of fourteen years or at any time afterwards.

ARTICLE VII.

The High Contracting Parties engage to cooperate with each other in urging other powers whose subjects or citizens may be concerned in the fur-seal fisheries to forego, in virtue of appropriate arrangements, the exercise of the right of pelagic sealing, and also to prohibit the use of their ports and flag in the furtherance of pelagic sealing within the areas covered by such arrangement.

ARTICLE VIII.

This treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by His Britannic Majesty; and ratifications shall be exchanged in Washington as soon as practicable.

In faith whereof the respective plenipotentiaries have signed this treaty in duplicate and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Washington the seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eleven.

AGREEMENT ADOPTING, WITH CERTAIN MODIFICATIONS, THE RULES AND METHOD OF PROCEDURE RECOMMENDED IN THE AWARD OF SEPTEMBER 7, 1910, OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION.

Signed at Washington July 20, 1912; ratification advised by the Senate August 1, 1912; ratified by the President August 7, 1912; ratified by Great Britain August 19, 1912; ratifications exchanged at Washington November 15, 1912; proclaimed November 16, 1912. (Treaty Series, No. 572; 37 Statutes at Large, 1734.)