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RUSSIA.

Protection of British Trawlers on the Murman Coast.

(Previous

Reference: Cabinet 25 (23), Con- clusion 6.)

ą.

The Cabinet had before them & Memorandum

by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

(Paper C.P.-235 (28)) raising, by arrangement

with the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries,

the question of what, if any, protection should

be afforded to trawlers on the Murman coast,

and covering a Memorandum containing alternative

suggestions.

the

After examining various suggestions

contained in the Secretary of State's Memorandum,

the Cabinet inclined to the view that the choice

rested between adherence to the providus warning

against fishing in the Murman coast outside the

3-mile limit but within the 12-mile limit, and

the sending of an armed escort capable of pro-

tecting the trawlers and with orders to protect

them outside the 3-mile limit, if necessary,

as was done before 1923.

The Cabinet agreed

That, in order to give time to the members of the Cabinet generally, and in particular to the First Lord of the Admiralty and the Secretary of State for Scotland, who were closely con- cerned, the final decision should be postponed until the following week.

7:

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