New  Engluud,  at  tlie  beginning  of  the  war,  had,
by  act  of  Parliament,  been  debarred  from  fish-
ing on  the  baalts  of  Newfoundland,  and  they,
claimed  that,  in  any  treaty  of  peace,  these  fish-
eries ought  to  be  considered  as  a  perpetual
joint  property.  Indeed,  New  England  had
planned,  and  furnished  the  forces  for,  the  first
reduction  of  Cape  Breton,  and  had  rendered
conspicuous  assistance  in  the  acquisition  of
Nova  Scotia  and  Canada  by  the  English.  The
Congress,  on  March  23, 1779,  in  Committee  of
the  Whole,  agreed  that  the  right  to  fish  on  the
coasts  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  banks  of  Newfound-
land, in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  straits
of  Labrador  and  Belle  Isle,  should  in  no  qase  be
given  up.  In  the  final  treaty  of  peace  (1783)  the
fishery  question  was  satisfactorily  settled.
