ROSS SEA WHALES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 184, 6 August 1925, Page 16

ROSS SEA WHALES.

s . IS EXTERMINATION THREATENED? (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary -Reporter.) ■-' Wednesday. Notice was given by Mr. Holland in the House of Repreeentatives to ask '. what amount of payment had .been . made by the Norwegian Ross Sea whalers to the New Zealand Goyern-. ment. "I want also to ask," he added, "whether there is any truth in the statement that- the -whales in the Ross Sea, which is, now the only sanctuary for whales, are in danger, of being exter- . ruinated during the next four.forCfive years?" ■ "Wliy riot give New Zealanders an. opportunity of securing whale fishing concessions?" asked Mr. de la Perrelle, during a subsequent speech. -He-Chad, he said, approached the Minister .of Marine on the subject and had been assured that the company now holding the privilege had rendered great ser- , vices to the- Imperial Government dur- , ing the war. That was all right, but . if the Government could give New Zeaj landers a chance, he believed they could • equip the ships, though this evidently , meant heavy expenditure. As for the. supply of whales, there appeared to be no scarcity. There had been ten years' close season for seals, and' he underI stood they were becoming very numerous in the Southern Islands. It had been ! suggested that foreign' vessels, had been i seen in certain areas under circum- : stances suggesting that seals were being . unlawfully taken. He would ask the Minister of Marine to consider giving opportunities to New Zealanders when •he was dealing with this industry. v