THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13484, 10 May 1907, Page 5

THE NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES.

IGNORING A TREATY.

By " Telegraph.—Press Association.—Copyright. St. Johns,, May 8. The Supreme Court of Newfoundland has upheld the conviction of two fishermen named Dubois and Crane, for having put bait on American fishing boats: The case is to be carried to the Privy Council.

Dubois and Crane, in November last, were fined 500 dollars each, with the alternative of three months' imprisonment, for having put herrings on an American fishing boat at 'the Bay of Islands. They had made a distinct violation of the colony's bait regulations, which had been issued to exclude the Americans from the local fishing ' grounds. The bait is got within the three •mile limit, and until recent years foreign fishermen had been allowed to enter these waters and take it. Three or four years ago a Bait Act was passed', which made it necessary for foreign fishermen to pay a fee for a license to take bait. - The Americans refused to apply for licenses, and the question became a matter for diplomatic negotiation. The Government of Newfoundland declined to withdraw the regulations, and thereupon a modus vivendi : was arranged between the United States and Great Britain, under which the regulations were to become dormant for the season. This arrangement was ignored by the Government of Newfoundland, so far as it related to its own people; hence the prosecution of Dubois and Crane. About the same time a local captain was fined 50 dollars for conveying fishermen belonging to the colony to American vessels lying outside the three mile limit. '