Page 90 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf) 1907-1953

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fcrcnco with tho rights enjoyed by the tribes on
the Arabian coast of the Persian Gulf in tho
pearl fisheries, and requesting us to favour your
Lordship with our opinion —
*• 1. As to the legal rights of the tribes within,
as also without, the 3-mile territorial limit.
“ 2. As to the procedure to bo followed in
expelling interlopers, and dealing with their boats
and fishing appliances.
“We have taken the matter into our considera­
tion, and, in obedience to your Lordship’s com-
mnnds, have tho honour to report—
" 1. That the tribes have a right to tho exclusive
use of the pearl fisheries within the 3-mile limit,
and in any other waters which may justly be
considered territorial.
“ As regards tho fisheries beyond territorial
waters, we think that a distinction must be
drawn between the banks where the tribes have
practised pearl fishing and the deep waters in
which no such fishery has been carried on
by them.
“ As regards Hie pearl banks, we think that, as a
matter of international law, they are capable of
being the property of the tribes to the exclusion
of all nations. In addition to the passage cited
from Vattel, reference may be made to Puffen-
dorfTs Treatise * De jure Naturse ot gentium,’
Book IV, chapter v, section 7, and to the recent
work of Professor Westlake, ‘ International
Law/ Part I, chapter ix, at pp. 186 and 187, and
the case of the protection of the Coy Ion pearl
banks is a striking illustration of the assertion of
this right in practice. Whether such rights in
fact exist with regard to these particular pearl
banks in tho Persian Gulf is a question tho
answer to which cannot be given with any
certainty, as it depends on the evidence available
of historical facts with reference to the enjoy­
ment of these fisheries by the tribes and the
exclusion of others from them. As far as we can
judge, upon the materials before us, we think
that there are grounds for asserting the existence
of such an exclusive right, and we do not think
that in point of law the fact that tho enjoyment
was by the tribes in common would prevent the
acquisition of the right in question. Having
regard to the relations of His Majesty’s Govern­
ment with the tribes on the west shore of the
Persian Gulf, we think that the existence of this