The Convention for the High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean was signed at Tokyo on May 9, 1952, on behalf of Canada, Japan, and the United States, and came into effect on June 12, 1953, upon the exchange of ratifications by the three governments at Tokyo. The first meeting of the Commission was held in Washington, D.C., in February 1954. Canada, the United States, and Japan sent representatives, and invitations to send observers were extended to FAO, the International Pacific Halibut Commission, the International Salmon Fisheries Commission, the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission. The purposes of the conference were “to decide matters of organization, to prepare coordinated programs of research on the stocks of fish that are of common concern to the three countries, and, generally, to carry out the commitments of the convention”. The Commission decided to establish temporary headquarters at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C.