WHALING INDUSTRY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 131, 6 June 1939, Page 8

WHALING INDUSTRY

BRITISH COLUMBIA

PRESERVATION IN FAVOUR

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

VANCOUVER, May 10.

The whaling fleet, of six vessels and supply ship, is about to sail for the northern whaling grounds. Each ship carries a harpoon gun and a crew of eleven men. Whale hunting has greatly diminished in volume since the turn of the century, when it was at its peak. In those days, the ships averaged 25 whales a week; now they average 50 whales for the whole season of five months. The indiscriminate slaughter of a generation ago has given way to orderly regulation of the catch. The limit fixed by the Federal Government is 35ft. The skippers of today are staunch conservationists, seeking to preserve an industry that is yet rich in profits. In other days, young whales and their mothers were killed, and. the industry was in danger of being ruined. Canada is a signatory to the international treaty, which aims at assisting the mammals to propagate their species. . Of the 310 whales .taken last year in British Columbia waters, only 24 were females. The largest was a Sulphur female, measuring 80ft. A Sulphur male was the next largest— 77ft. Sperm whales constitute the bulk of the catch; 253 were of that variety, 50 others being Fins. The bulk of the catch was used in the production of meal, oil, and fertiliser; the total value of the products was 220,000 dollars.