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E. History of Commercial Harvesting 



Although the southern ocean is remote, it is not un- 

 touched by human activity. There is a long history of 

 commercial harvesting there. 



1. Whales 



Whaling occurred in the Antarctic in the 19th and 20th 

 centuries. Modern whaling with factory ships began in 1904. 

 Species of commercial interest have been blue, fin, sei, 

 minke, humpback and sperm whales. Populations of all of 

 these except minke whales have been greatly reduced in the 

 last 30 years. Whaling is now regulated under the Inter- 

 national Whaling Convention. Fin, blue, humpback and 

 southern right whales are protected from harvest. Sei, minke, 

 and sperm whales are harvested (Everson, 1977; Mackintosh 

 and Brown 1974; Laws, 1977a). 



Blue whales are the largest of the whales, and conse- 

 quently the most valuable to whalers and the earliest ex- 

 ploited. As blue whales declined, the smaller fin, sei, and 

 minke whales were fished. Changes in the proportions of 

 species caught have been a result of reduction in abundance 

 from exploitation, not from changing preferences. Until 

 the 1960 's, the majority of world whaling occurred in the 

 Antarctic. From 1945 to 1960 between 30,000 and 40,000 

 whales were caught in the Antarctic each year. Catches 

 are now substantially reduced (Everson, 1977). 



2. Seals 



Sealing has also taken place in the Antarctic. In the 

 last century the sealers contributed some scientific infor- 

 mation about the region (Deacon, 1977) . Except for a 

 Norwegian exploratory expedition (0ritsland, 1970), pack 

 ice seals have not been harvested for commercial purposes. 

 Future harvesting of seals south of 60°S latitude will be 

 regulated under the Convention for the Conservation of 

 Antarctic Seals. 



In the early 19th century, fur seals were harvested until 

 populations declined. Then elephant seals were harvested but 

 harvesting became unprofitable before populations were reduced 

 to a critical level. After shore based whaling was established 

 at South Georgia, sealing again became economically feasible 

 and some overexploitation may have occurred prior to 1953. 

 There is now no commercial harvest of fur or elephant seals 

 (Everson, 1977) . Harvesting is now regulated south of 60°S 

 under the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals; 

 no har V e.'7 -■■ r.g is taking place there at present. 



