North Sea Fisheries Convention

The North Sea Fishers Convention (May 6, 1882) is the result of a conference which was held for the purpose of regulating the policy of the fisheries in the North Sea. It was entered into by United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and France for a period of five years. It was thereafter to run on until notice of intention to terminate it, such notice to affect only the power giving it.

The convention is operative only outside the three-mile limit from land. This limit is defined as follows: The fishermen of each country shall enjoy the exclusive right of fishery within the distance of 3 miles (5.56 km) from low-water mark along the whole extent of the coasts of their respective countries, as well as of the dependent islands and banks. As regards bays, the distance of 3 miles (5.56 km) shall be measured from a straight line drawn across the bay, in the part nearest the entrance, at the first point where the width does not exceed 50 miles (92.7 km). The present article shall not in any way prejudice the freedom of navigation and anchorage in territorial waters accorded to fishing boats, provided they conform to the special police regulations enacted by the powers to whom the shore belongs.

A supplementary convention was signed at the Hague, November 16, 1887, among the same High Contracting Parties, relating to the liquor traffic in the North Sea. It applies to the area set out in article 4 of the Convention of IV May 6, 1882, and forbids the sale of spirituous liquors within it to persons on board fishing vessels. A reciprocal right of visit and search is granted under this convention to the cruisers entrusted with the carrying out of its provisions.

The texts of the 1882 and 1887 Conventions are available at [1] and [2].

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 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.