An Essay on Aquatic Rights: Intended as an Illustration of the Law Relative to Fishing, and to the Propriety of Ground or Soil Produced by Alluvion and Dereliction in the Sea and Rivers

An Essay On Aquatic Rights: Intended As An Illustration Of The Law Relative To Fishing, And To The Propriety Of Ground Or Soil Produced By Alluvion And Dereliction In The Sea And Rivers by Henry Schultes. This legal treatise surveys the nature and privileges of fisheries in public and private waters, tracing the authority from Roman law to early English writers such as Bracton and Fleta, and explaining how the Crown's prerogatives relate to the sovereign's dominion of the sea and navigable rivers. It distinguishes public or common rights from private rights, examines the concept of occupancy and alluvion, avulsion, reliction, and the creation of property in sea soil and islands, and discusses "royal fish" such as whales and sturgeon. The work analyzes how prescription, custom, and royal charters interact with established principles of property, service (usufruct), and the public right of fishing, concluding with a synthesis of civil and common-law sources and urging rational, consistent application of foundational rules.