Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, SEPT. 14, 1935. PRESERVING THE WHALE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 246, 14 September 1935, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. SATURDAY, SEPT. 14, 1935. PRESERVING THE WHALE.

A bill to give effect to the International Whaling Convention of 1931 has been introduced into Parliament. It follows the recent legislation passed by the British House of Commons to preserve the whale from extinction, an eventuality that was not exaggerated in the light of the indiscriminate slaughter of recent years. The British Act, which ratified the Geneva Convention, bringing the number to do so to at least a score, ensures that the carcases of whales must be utilised to the fullest possible extent so that no more than are absolutely necessary for economic purposes shall be taken. Regulation is to be enforced by a system of licenses, and inspectors may be placed on board the whaling ships to ensure that the Act shall be observed. New Zealand is a signatory to the Geneva Convention which is evidence of world opinion upon a subject that required earnest consideration. Actually, places in which the whale once abounded hardly know them at all now. Whaling in New Zealand waters is not an extensive business, but the administration of the Ross Sea Dependency gives this Dominion a very important interest in the Convention, and the restrictions that have been agreed upon by the nations that have ratified it. The whale has been relentlessly pursued in the Antarctic Ocean where modern methods of killing the mammal were first introduced in 1905, and it has been authoritatively stated that since then more than 300,000 whales have been caught, yielding products valued at more than ±'70,000,000. At first shore factories were used for boiling down, but the latest method is to employ large factory ships which are accompanied by a fleet of small chasers. Official statistics for the Ross Sea Dependency provide a very good reason for concern, for ten years ago 32,000 barrels of whale oil were taken and, in 1930-31, 272,500. Since then operations have been severely restricted owing to the stress of world economic conditions. But when the industry was flourishing it was a most lucrative business, and it has been stated that in March, 1930, three factory ships returned to their bases in the Dominion after less than five months’ work with whale oil valued at more than ±1,000,000. A little later another ship arrived with a world’s record catch, valued at ±570,000. Still later, a whaler arrived at Hobart with the modest catch of 745 whales from which oil valued at ±230,000 had been won. . Yaluable commissions were earned by the crews of the ships which comprised no less than 35 floating refineries in that year. Then came the adversity in world trade and a considerable slowing down of operations as the glut of whale oil on the market could not be disposed of. Both Australia and New Zealand have jurisdiction over large areas of Antarctica, the Commonwealth’s administration extending to territory two-tliirds the size of Australia itself. Neither has exploited the industry, but it has been estimated that even with the restrictions imposed by the Convention it could be done so profitably. In the meantime, however, it is a mnttei of veiy considerable interest that an in ternational effort should be made to preserve a valuable world asset from extinction. Britain has taken a foremost part m whale research, and the voyages of the Discovery II proved that, unless action was taken internationally to restrict the slaughter of whales, they would be exterminated. The wisdom of the Convention will be abundantly moved in the future if it is strictly observed by the nations that have ratified it.