THE WHALING INDUSTRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3994, 30 September 1930, Page 9

THE WHALING INDUSTRY.

ROSS SEA OPERATIONS.

MARINE DEPARTMENT’S REPORT WELLINGTON, September 23.

The increasing attention being paid to whaling in the Ross Sea is clearly evident from statistics quoted in th« annual report of the Marine Department tabled in the House of Representatives to-dav. From 1923 to 1930 the number of whales caught was 11,673, of which 4973 were taken by five ships operating in the last season. The barrels of oil represented in the catches over the seven years’ period were 902,646, of which 341,190 pertained to the 1929-30 season. One barrel equals 40 imperial gallons. The five ships operating last season were the Sir James Clark Ross, which took 450 whales, the C. A. Larsen (1082), the Southern Princess (874), the N. T. Nielsen Alonso (745), and the Kosmos (1822). The last two named are described as unlicensed factories, the records of which have not been authenticated. The Secretary of Marine (Mr G. C. Godfrey) comments as follows:—The average take of oil ot each of the three floating factories engaged in the 1928-29 season was 61,833 barrels, while for the 1929-30 season the average for each of the five factories operating was 68,238. The higher average per ship is accounted for mainly by the fact that the newer vessels were larger and more modern n factory and chasing equipment. The season generally was an unusual one. In the early part what whales were caught were comparative!} thin and the ice conditions were distinctly worse than the previous seasons. The pack ice was impassable until a later date than usual, consequently those factories which endeavoured to force a passage through lost a great deal of fishing time and received considerable damage. The Southern Princess lost one her five catchers, while the Kosmos, which early gave up the attempt, was operating with seven very fast catchers and took by far the biggest catciu It is understood that thn Southern Princess will not be operating in the Dependency during the coming season. The whaling operations in the Ross Sea, ±e increasing number of expeditions and the whales taken, and the fear that the stock will be depleted a* a fate greater than the natural reproduction will be able to balance, has been the subject of a good deal of discussion during the past year. Apart from the fact that whales if not taken in the Ross Sea will robably be taken somewhere e’se, the financial aspect of the matter will certainly act as a regulator to some extent. The expeditions cost a very large sum of money to fit out and operate, and a .bad season either as to sea and ice conditions or shortage of whales may easily result in a loss so serious that the number of expeditions will be reduced or will operate in other waters. There is evidence of this in the Southern Princess, whose owners, as a result of last season’s experience, have decided to operate elsewhere. The department has been seriously concerned in the matter of the preservation of the fishery ever since the first visit of an unlicensed factory in the 1926-27 season when the questions of regulating the catching capacity to stocks and compelling the extraction of oil from the whole carcass was taken up with the Home authorities. It was realised that as all the catching could be done in international waters, which were free to all, effective regulation in all necessary respects could be achieved only by international agreement. The Norwegian Government has made its own law on the subject, but this is limited practically to requiring all Norwegian vessels to be licensed and to observe certain regulations designed to prevent waste. The question has been under consideration by the Economic Committee of the League of Nations, with the result that a committee of experts was set up and met in Geneva in the spring of this' year. This committee has drawn up a draft convention for the consideration of the various Governments concerned. As this follows very much in practical matters on the Norwegian law it would seem there is good ground for hoping that a definite forward step will result. It would not at this stage be appropriate -to discuss the draft convention in detail, except perhaps to say that it falls short of regulating the killing power—that is to say regulation of the number of vessels which may engage in whaling under license, but logically that seems to be the next step to look forward to. It should be realised that there are many difficulties in the way, and by reason of the question being an international one the progress towards the end which we desire to see will not be speedily reached.