Mr Perano: ‘What Hope Have We Got"

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30395, 20 March 1964, Page 1

Mr Perano: ‘What Hope Have We Got"

(New Zealand Pres* Association)

BLENHEIM, March 19.

There was little point in the Tory Channel whalers putting to sea in their steam chaser Orca while the Russian whaling fleet was working off the coast, the principal of the company (Mr G. T. Perano) said this morning.

As far as he knew, the fleet was still off the coast, operating off Kaikoura. “From the amount of radio traffic something must be happening out there," he said.

The Orca is undergoing minor maintenance at Picton and Mr Perano thought it might leave for the whaling grounds at the week-end. “But what hope have we got out there, one ship against 15,” he said. “And our methods are old and antiquated compared with theirs. We would have no show." Mr Perano said little more could be done about his company’s protest to the Marine Department about the Russians' operations until the next meeting of the international whaling convention. His main fear, however, is that the fields will be depleted.

“They will take in a week what we would take in a season,” he said, “and you can be sure that if they are successful there now they’ll be back again next season.” Asked if foreign whalers would be under any obligation to advise the New Zealand Marine Department about the catching of locally tagged whales, Mr Perano said there was no binding obligation, but he thought some countries who felt they were under a moral obligation would do so. The Japanese, he said, had shown some friendliness. “They accept our hospitality and have withdrawn their fishing fleet, but with the Russians the outlook is not a pleasant one,” Mr Perano said.