FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1938 535 
Regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of 
Commerce were signed by the President December 20, 1938. 
The original Convention and subsequent legislation, among other 
things, prohibited the killing of right and gray whales; set definite 
limits on various other species, required the licensing of all shore 
stations, factory ships, and killer boats, and the collection of statis- 
tical and biological data on all whales killed. 
In general it may be stated that there are virtually two groups of 
whales. All have their young in the tropical waters; then, accom- 
panied by their calves, one group migrates to the Antarctic and the 
other to the Arctic. The Northern group leaves the tropical waters 
of the Caribbean Sea and Lower California in the spring or early 
summer, travels to the Arctic Seas, and returns along the same general 
route in the fall. ‘Thus, whaling in Northern waters usually starts in 
May or June and ends in October. 
The seasons are reversed in the Southern Hemisphere; therefore, 
the Southern group leaves the tropical waters off the coasts of Africa, 
South America, and Australia in the Antarctic spring, 1. e., October, 
migrates to the Antarctic polar seas during the Antarctic summer 
and returns to tropical waters in autumn (March and April). Whal- 
ing in the Antarctic is restricted to a definite season. The season 
opens December 8 and closes March 7. During 1937-38 the season 
was extended to March 15. 
The American whaling industries operated for the first time under 
these new regulations during the 1937-38 season. The value of the 
whale products are conservatively estimated at $6,000,000, and fees 
for whaling licenses yielded $10,250 to the Federal Government. 
A Coast Guard inspector was assigned to each shore station and 
factory ship. Uniform methods for the collection of statistical and 
biological data were inaugurated by the Bureau of Fisheries. Samples 
of stomach contents were taken when practicable and a comprehensive 
report containing the results of the analyses of stomach contents, as 
well as detailed information concerning all American whaling opera- 
tions, was prepared by the Bureau and forwarded through the State 
Department to the International Bureau for Whaling Statistics, 
Oslo, Norway. 
The following tables show the extent of American participation in 
whaling during the 1937-38 season, as well as the total production of 
whale products by areas: 
Whaling, 1937-88 } 
OPERATING UNITS: By AREAS 






Shore stations Factory ships Killer boats Total 
Asan Se | yr] persons 
em- 
s Persons I 7 
Number | employed Number Crew Number Crew ployed 
TAME aT SOs ba eee ee 2 129 DER A = 3 6 69 198 
Antarctic. ___----- te |e eee 1 215 9 121 336 
SIGE RMI ye I eS eS eee 2 326 15 198 524 
OFT) aceg hte ee SE | ee 1 31 2 22 53 
Rta let eels. ae Ee 2 129 23 (3) 2 28 (3) (3) 







1 Includes the operations of shore stations, factory ships, and killer boats licensed by the United States. 
2 Exclusive of duplication. 2 
3 Data on total persons employed, exclusive of duplication, not available. 
NoTE.—Data on the operations of plants in Alaska and California are for the summer of 1937, while 
those for West Australia and the Antarctic are for the winter of 1937-38. 
162187—40 24 

