Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

MODERN WHALING

NECESSITY OF CONILOL.

WORK OF DISCOVERY Ip.

WELLINGTON; August 27.

Of the address given by Air. D- PJolm, il.Sp., chief of toe scientific staff of the RoypV iesearch ship Discovery 11, which is at present jn WeL lingfon, the most important section, perhaps, was, that ip which MrJohn dealt with the present state of the wealing indusry and the measures which will have to be adopted if it is to be caj-ried on indefinitely as an industryi of World impol't^nce!

J nternational control on a system which would preserve the .^Block of whales undamaged was necessa’.-y, Mr John said, if the industry was to .avoid ,a, j>ej-nianent decline. The work of the Discovery JI was. of importance in (his respect because it was supplying knowledge of w’hales and their environment and.' habits which 1 Was : necessary if a satisfactory system' fif control was to be devised. r i.

After describing the Antarctic and siib-Antarctic regions to which the Discovery IJ is devoting its attention, Mr John said that whaling ip the extreme south had begun af. the beginning of the present century ip the Falkland Islands sector, .to which, until recently, it had been cqnfincd.

• The growth of the industry marked the third occasion ip , history when whaling has assumed thp .sta.thpe of ap - industry . of. ; w or W , unpprtancp'. The earlier occasions had been in the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and it . was necessary to note that , op both : previous occasions over-Jishing had led •to such deplenishment of tlfe Btock that after the boom pefiofb t’pe industry • had fallen back. Although it was not known how long it took the whales tp recover from, such periods of over-fish-ing, it was certain that it tpqjc a very long time indeed) and that the effect® , of over-fishing of the sperm and right whales were still present..

THIS CENTURY’S WHALING .

This;century’s whaling had. begup jfi 1961 in the Falkland Sector, iyjien Norwegians worked with- a statiop at South Georgia, the jmpprtant of the . lesser islands of that region. But at, that time and for some yeans afterward whaling was carried out, on a land basis, and for that reason' was subjected to, whichy/as British; Tfie revenue then obtpined’ from royalties and licences,,; had been used to Guild; up the.fund which the Discoyery II was„*noiv using. , .

, B.ut. in pecent years, Mr. John said, Re . industry,, . had become -pelagic. s?icgtjuig .factories had at: first beep able .to .go down towaidv tlie ice.edge imcbi*ap, richer and this had .Jed .naturally,-to the: de.velqpmenb; ; of .'huge factory.-ships gf the'Jibsm^ty/POl Fronv ,--1826 to,T93lN'there; had- beCftf 8sort.'ot ‘‘gold nush,:” and whaling, had • •xfended ro.uhdv.three quarters; of the Antarctic , continent.,; Tlje. number: of whales taken, had increased from’ 12,- - DOO ip the 1926-27 seasoiT to 30,000“ in the 1930-31 season. . v- ■ A® a result of this a very large •surplus of whale oil had accumulated in Europe, and fast year the Norwegians had agreed apiopg themselves to observe a- close season. Next year)' Mr John understood, the Norwegian’s would fish on a quota basis, although they stihl had surplus stocks. • : r fv ;: f

INTER NATION-AD CONTROL NEC- . .;- .; ESS ARY. •• r$W-

Whaling on the pelagic system which had been a feature of - recent years, wjw» not subject to the obntrol which bad been exercised in the 'Falkland group earlier in the century, and there was no limit ekeept an,.economic one to it.? growth. Under present conditions Mr John said,; there, i was ; no doubt that that economic limit was not readied until irreparable damage l , had been done to the stock; and for that reason, if history wa.s not to be repeated, and if the present modern industry in the ;Antarctic was not -to suffer the same, fate, as .tlie ,older industries, it ,would;.:;have to he controlled,'. r The i optrol necessary would be such tlvat the industry; might go p.n witlmnt damaging,itself as in the past. To: be effective the control would have to.be international. • ;

Fo that purpose, said/Mr John, knowledge of the whale and its habits and environments Was necessary, and it was this knowledge that the Discovery committee, which has headquartered at. the Colonial Office, London, was engaged upon obtaining. Discovery II was, under its having been specially built Tdr-’the work, and the committee hadv control also of another research ship, the .'WRr liam iSporesby, as well as of the Marino Biological' Station ati Sputh Georgia.' ;.i'\’,

EXTENSIBLE WORK ON WHALES - . # Mr John went on ,to describe the work of the Discovery 11 on its present commission,, speaking more particularly of the Avork of the four zoologists and the hydrologist which the vessel carried. With a ; fine selection of lantern slides he,outlined the work that was done at any station on the vessel’s voyages, and pointed out several ways, in which the hydrological results were related to zoological results. He spoke also of the highly important

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19320830.2.15

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1932, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
810

MODERN WHALING Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1932, Page 3

MODERN WHALING Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1932, Page 3

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert