ROSS SEA WHALING

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1930, Page 4

ROSS SEA WHALING

e EXPANSION OF OPERATIONS. S STEPS TOWARD AGREEMENT, e r The increasing attention being paid “ to whaling in the Ross Sea is clearly evi- '• dent from statistics quoted in the anr nual report of the Marine Department tabled, in the House of Representatives. : From 1923 to 1930 the number of whales R caught was of which 4973 were “ taken by five ships operating in the >. last season. The barrels of oil represent- ’■ ed in the catches over the seven years’ period were 902,046, of which 341,190 *■ pertained to the 1929-30 season. One 7 barrel equals 40-Imperial gallons. ’ , The five ships operating last season ■ were the Sir. .Tames Clark-Ross, which l ’. took 450 whales, the C.-A. Larsen (1032), the Southern Princess (874), tho N. T. ' Nielsen Alonso (745) and the Kosmos 1 (1822). ’The last two named are de- • scribed as unlicensed factories, tho re- ■ cords of which have not been authenticated. The Secretary of Marine, Mr. G. C. Godfrey, comments as follows:—“The average take of oil of each of the three floating factories engaged in the 192829 season was 61,833 barrels, while for the 1929-30 season the average for each of the five factories operating was 68,235. The higher average per ship is accounted for mainly by the fact that the newer vessels, were larger and more modern in factory and chasing equipment. The season generally was an unusual one. “In the early part ; what wliales were caught were comparatively thin and the ice conditions were distinctly worse than in 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 of her five chasers, while the Kosmos, which early gave up the attempt and was operating with seven very fast chasers, took by far the biggest catch. It is understood that the Southern Princess will not lie operating in the dependency during the coming season. “The whaling operations in the Ross Sea, the increasing number of expeditions and whales taken and the fear that the stock will be depleted at a rate greater than natural reproduction will be able to balance have 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 probably be taken somewhere else, the financial aspect of the matter will certainly act as a regulator to some extent. “These 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 loss so serious that the' number of expeditions will be reduced or operate in other waters. There is evidence of this in the ease of the Southern Princess, whose owners, as a result _ of last season’s experience, have dccid ed to operate elsewhere. “The department has been seriously

concerned in the matter of preservation of the fishery ever since the first visit of an unlicensed factory in the 1920-27 season, when the questions of regulating 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 question has been under consideration by the Economic Committee of the League of Nations, with the rest;] t that a committee of experts was set up and met in Geneva in the spring of tins 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.

“I: would, not at this stage be appropriats to discuss the draft convention in detail, except perhaps to say that it falls short of regulating killing-power, that ife 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 reasn of the question being an international one the progress toward the end which we desire to see will not be reached speedily.”