The inaugural conference was intended to provide a set of regulations for North Sea fisheries.

The High Contracting Parties, which included Great Britain, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium and France, entered the convention for a period of five years.

The convention, which operated only outside the three-mile limit from land, was defined as follows: A supplementary convention was signed at The Hague on November 16, 1887, among the same High Contracting Parties, relating to 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 carrying out of its provisions.