First United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea

The first United Nations conference on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS I) was held in Geneva from 24 February to 27 April 1958, with 86 states in attendance. It aimed to examine the technical, biological, economic, and political aspects of the law of the sea, as well as to codify the results into one or more international conventions or treaties. The 1958 Geneva conference adopted four separate international conventions. The “Territorial Sea and the Contiguous Zone” convention dealt with the territorial division of the seas and sovereignty issues among nations. The “High Seas” convention adopted resolutions regarding nuclear tests on the high seas and the resulting pollution by radioactive materials. The resolutions arising from the “Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the High Seas” convention revolved around international fishery conservation and cooperation in conservation measures. Finally, the “Continental Shelf” convention dealt with resolutions on special situations relating to coastal fisheries and régime of historic waters. A second conference was held in 1960 to consider topics which had not been agreed upon at the 1958 Conference.