Bait Act

Last updated March 12, 2019

Bait Acts were laws passed in Newfoundland to try to control the sale of bait to French fishermen, and later to Canadian and American fishermen.

Law is a system of rules that are created and enforced through social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior. It has been defined both as "the Science of Justice" and "the Art of Justice". Law is a system that regulates and ensures that individuals or a community adhere to the will of the state. State-enforced laws can be made by a collective legislature or by a single legislator, resulting in statutes, by the executive through decrees and regulations, or established by judges through precedent, normally in common law jurisdictions. Private individuals can create legally binding contracts, including arbitration agreements that may elect to accept alternative arbitration to the normal court process. The formation of laws themselves may be influenced by a constitution, written or tacit, and the rights encoded therein. The law shapes politics, economics, history and society in various ways and serves as a mediator of relations between people.

History

In the 1800s France claimed exclusive rights to fish along the shores of Newfoundland, and to cure the fish on the shores. Newfoundland was a British colony, but Britain had other priorities when negotiating fishing rights, and did little to protect the Newfoundland fishery.

In 1857 Britain signed an agreement allowing the French jurisdiction over an area of the shoreline where the fish were cured, and giving them the right to run off any vessels that were impeding their fishing activities.^[1]

To minimize this interference in their own fishery, the Newfoundland Assembly introduced the first Bait Act in 1886, making it illegal to sell bait to French fishermen, but Britain refused to give its required agreement until this act was modified in 1887.^[2]^[3] This Act and subsequent variations did not appreciably curtail the fishing activities of the French, who were able to find alternative supplies. ^[4]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland.

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping. “Fishing” may include catching aquatic animals other than fish, such as molluscs, cephalopods, crustaceans, and echinoderms. The term is not normally applied to catching farmed fish, or to aquatic mammals, such as whales where the term whaling is more appropriate. In addition to being caught to be eaten, fish are caught as recreational pastimes. Fishing tournaments are held, and caught fish are sometimes kept as preserved or living trophies. When bioblitzes occur, fish are typically caught, identified, and then released.

France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.

During the 1890s, after Canadian interference led Britain to veto a trade agreement with the United States, Newfoundland tried to use Bait Act provisions to influence and regulate the sale of bait to Canadian fishermen.^[5] In the early 20th century, the Bait Act was directed against American fishermen.^[6]^[7]

Canadians are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, several of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Canadian.

The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.

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References

↑ George A. Rose. Cod: The Ecological History of the North Atlantic Fisheries . Breakwater Books; 2007. ISBN 978-1-55081-225-1. p. 279–.
↑ Canada. Parliament. Senate. Debates of the Senate: Débats du Sénat . Queen's Printer.; 1892. p. 75–.
↑ D. W. Prowse. A History of Newfoundland from the English, Colonial and Foreign Records . Heritage Books; October 2007. ISBN 978-0-7884-2310-9. p. 519–.
↑ Kurt Korneski. Conflicted Colony: Critical Episodes in Nineteenth-century Newfoundland and Labrador . McGill-Queen's University Press; 2016. ISBN 978-0-7735-4780-3. p. 102–.
↑ Sean Thomas Cadigan. Newfoundland and Labrador: A History . University of Toronto Press; 2009. ISBN 978-0-8020-8247-3. p. 156–.
↑ Ryan, Shannon (2006). "Bait Acts". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation. Retrieved 2006-11-11.
↑ Paul Sparkes. "To wit — a barrel of herring". The Telegram, Jul 17, 2017

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[Rose2007-1] George A. Rose. Cod: The Ecological History of the North Atlantic Fisheries . Breakwater Books; 2007. ISBN 978-1-55081-225-1. p. 279–.

[Senate1892-2] Canada. Parliament. Senate. Debates of the Senate: Débats du Sénat . Queen's Printer.; 1892. p. 75–.

[Prowse2007-3] D. W. Prowse. A History of Newfoundland from the English, Colonial and Foreign Records . Heritage Books; October 2007. ISBN 978-0-7884-2310-9. p. 519–.

[Korneski2016-4] Kurt Korneski. Conflicted Colony: Critical Episodes in Nineteenth-century Newfoundland and Labrador . McGill-Queen's University Press; 2016. ISBN 978-0-7735-4780-3. p. 102–.

[Cadigan2009-5] Sean Thomas Cadigan. Newfoundland and Labrador: A History . University of Toronto Press; 2009. ISBN 978-0-8020-8247-3. p. 156–.

[6] Ryan, Shannon (2006). "Bait Acts". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation. Retrieved 2006-11-11.

[7] Paul Sparkes. "To wit — a barrel of herring". The Telegram, Jul 17, 2017