Incidente și dispute româno-ruse privind dreptul la pescuit la gurile Dunării (1878-1916) [Articol]

Abstract

Romanian-russian incidents and disputes regarding the right to fish at the mouths of the Danube (1878-1916). As a result of the Berlin Peace Congress (1878), Russia re-annexed to its empire the territory in the south of Bessarabia, retroceded to the Principality of Moldavia in 1856. With the recognition of Romania’s independence from the Ottoman Empire at the Berlin Peace Congress (1878), Russia’s border on the Danube was fixed by the great powers on the Chilia branch, and Romania received “in exchange” Dobrogea and the Danube Delta – an important fishing region. The situation, however, got complicated for the inhabitants of the towns and villages re-annexed to the Russian Empire, whose basic occupation was fishing. After 1878 they found themselves constrained to fish where they usually did over the years by a tax, which not all fishermen accepted to pay. In this study, we analyze the frequent fishing incidents, when the Romanian side had to seize the boats and inventory of fishermen from the south of Bessarabia, because they were caught in its territorial waters, without paying the required tax. The cases generated real diplomatic disputes, with notes of protest and mutual accusations, which amplified the existing tensions created after 1878, with the forced re-annexation of Bolgrad, Cahul and Ismail counties to the Russian Empire. In our research, we relied on studying the documentary material from the Government Archival Fund (National Archives Agency), namely the Bessarabia Governor᾿s Chancellery Fund, which preserves unpublished information about the complaints of fishermen from the southern Bessarabia against the “actions of harassment” against them in the Danube waters bordering Romania.