THE REVIVAL OF WHALING

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15061, 2 August 1912, Page 9

THE REVIVAL OF WHALING

THREE FIRMS OPERATING PROSPECT OF A FOURTH. BASES IN NEW ZEALAND.

For twenty years or more tho waters of New Zealand have been undisturbed by adequately-equipped whaling craft, but at present no fewer than three Norwegian companies aro operating oil" the coast of New Zealand. These arc tho New Zealand Whaling Company, which has established its headquarters at ftucsel! (north of Auckland), with the home, headquarters .it Larvig, Norway; the Monfiou Whaling Company of Tousbrrg (Norway), which is operating from Stewart Island ; and the Bueggo and Olsen Company of Larvig, which is also making Stewart Island its shoio base. There in also a prospect of a fourth Norwegian Company commencing operations oh tho Now Zealand coast in the near future. The capital of tho three companies named totals £120,000.

Visiting Wellington at the present time is Mr. B. Jacobsen,. a Norwegian, who has been residing in Durban for some years, and who is interested in tho operations of ono of the whaling companies of that port. His object in coming to New Zealand is to ascertain if there is a reasonable prospect of the industry being made a payable one on this coast, and it so to float a. company to operate somewhat, on the lines of the companies which have already made a start at Russell and Stewart Island.

Base at Great Barrier. Mr. Jacobsen has been visiting the North, and has selected the Great Barrier Island as a likely place for tho establishment of a shore station, as he believes it to be in the track of the whales going north, while another advantage is that there is good harbour accommodation and plenty of timber. Ho has obtained the option over a piece of land there, and if ho sees that there is a reasonable prospect of doing well, he will exercise his option and float his company. Ho anticipates no difficulty in raising the capital. "What I would like to know," said Mr. Jacobsen to a Wellington pressman, "is whether the Government is going to allow the companies to fish anywhere or to allocate so much of tho coast lino to each company. This is a thing that the Government of Western Australia has seen to, and I think it is the right thing. Give each company 75 or 100 miles of coast and issue licenses only to so many companies, so that each will have a chance to fish ii security. I may mention that there is always a big risk in unknown waters, and so far New 'Zealand waters are unknown us. All that is being done now is experimental, and no one can say whether the industry is likely to bo a permanent one-. Certainly thorn aro whales about, including Humpbacks, Sperm Whaler, and even Right Whales. There are not so many of the last named I believe, but enough. To make the business pay you hove to get the whales in pretty regular supply during the season. It would take, for instance, about 200 Humpbacks a month to make, a company with a capital of £100.000 pay. We got about a thousand whales altogether in Durban last year, but that is a particularly good ground, as the whales go north of the Mozambique Channel regularly and return south the same way after the breeding season."

The Present-Day Boom. Mr, Jacobscn furnished some interesting data as to tho whaling industry of the world, which is of interest in view of the possibilities in New Zealand. Consequent upon a jump in the price of whale oil (now quoted at about £16 a ton), there had been a biu revival of the pursuit all over tho world. Practically t":e whole of the industry is now controlled by Norwegians, who seem to be specially adapted for the work. Old methods hn<l been supplemented with new ones. A number of steam " killers" which were very stoutly built and engincd, and could steam from 12 to 14 knots an hour, were j*tached either to a shore station or a " floating factory (as in the case of the New Zealand .Whaling Company). In 1911 the world's catch in whales was 22,500, this total being double tho number caught during the preceding year. One of the best grounds in the world was San Georgio, off the Falkland Islands, where 6000 whales were caught last season. The fishing there is in the hands of Norwegians, and some very big fortunes have been made in the industry. On tho other hand lots of ventures have failed. One company established itself on Kerguelen Island riot long ago, but it did very poorly and the company had to go into liquidation.