ROSS SEA WHALING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22099, 3 May 1935, Page 8

ROSS SEA WHALING

NEGLECTED HERITAGE |

WEALTH FOR DOMINION']

VISITING AUTHOR'S VIEWS,

Whaling should be considered V# New Zealandeirs as a field of endeaX our worth thousands of pounds atujtft ally l;o the national revenue, in *s' opinion of Mr. Laurie Henderson, Durban, author and marine who has spenli oyer ten years Tn 'Wemployment of Scandinavian panies operating, factory ships 'sss whale-chasers, in. the Antarctic regiW about the South' Shetlands, Georg a arid Elephant Island. V "Since 1931 there has been a clow fieason in the Iloi's Sea, which is- cbn trolled, by the New Zealand Govern" ment," said Mr. Henderson. " The ex" ploitatjon of the Ross Sea could'hi done by New Zealand enterprise. tVW that lias not been considered long %Z fore now has puzzled me for a lo n2 time. After spending several weeks travelling in New Zealand, there is only one' thing I cun say, and that is that there is lacking here the go-getting spirit which is so evident in other raw; of the world. "Th j market, for 'Whale oil has fly c . tuated during the last two or three years, but now prices are rising. g U n. plies are running out, and in the coming season commencing in Septum, ber another Australian . company will enter the business with its base i n Tasma cia. j :

" Initial costu are heavy, admittedly and the business requires experts iq various connections, but all those thino* can be overcome easily if there is recognition of the .harvests to be, watliercd. a successful season the-in. itial cost would be more than re,inj. bursed. I have known of only one un. Ruccessl'ul first season, and "then the ship was lost, but no lives. In that crss there vere 40,000 barrels of oil .on board. :•,%«!

" All New Zealand getsi out of whaling at present is a mere bagatelle—:?* 6d per barrel for every barrel in exiJesg of 20,000g0t by any concern she licences. That in mere peppercorn rental, and amounts to one-fortieth of the takine* jlf a concern netted £1,000,000 worth of oil —and that is , a fair average harvest —the New Zealand Government would get about £20,000.

' A New Zealand enterprise could engage in the next season's whaling. An old tanker, of which there are numbers unchartered, or lying idle, coyJd be reconstructed as a modern whale factory. In Glasgow such reconstruction work was d'one in less than ~r 80 days. Chasers could easily be obtained. There - are several vessels about N[ew Zealand which can be picked up for from £I3OO to £1700." 1