46 WHALES 



countries. Spain, Portugal and Gabon have so far refused to join the 

 Commission, while on nth August, 1952, Chile, Ecuador and Peru 

 concluded a separate agreement in Santiago. They found some of the 

 international conditions unacceptable and, moreover, insisted on a 

 200-mile territorial limit. Needless to say, not even the members of the 

 International Whaling Commission are in full agreement on every point. 

 If we bear in mind that, of the 1 7,387 men employed in Antarctic whaling 

 during 1958-9, 40 per cent were Norwegian and 46 per cent Japanese, 

 and if we remember that quite apart from her land stations, Norway has 

 nine factory ships for a population of 3-5 million, while Holland, for 

 instance, has only one ship for 1 1 million inhabitants, we see at once how 

 much greater and more important a part whaling plays in the economy 

 of Norway than it does in that of most other countries. While Norway, in 

 particular, is forced to take a long term view of the problem, other 

 countries, and particularly the newcomers, are often more concerned 

 with the immediate results. Australia and New Zealand, by virtue of the 

 geographical location of their land stations, are primarily interested in 

 Humpbacks and in limiting the annual Antarctic catch of that species, 

 so that a maximum share is left for their own whalers. Countries such as 

 Denmark and Iceland, which are mainly interested in the North Atlantic 

 catch, and countries such as Russia and Japan which are concerned with 

 the North Pacific, are clearly more opposed to whaling limits in their 

 respective domains than, say, Holland or South Africa. Thus the divergent 

 interests of eighteen countries must be balanced, while the whale popula- 

 tion in general and every species in particular must be preserved. 



Despite many conflicts, however, we are on safe ground when we say 

 that compared with all kinds of other international bodies, the atmosphere 

 in the Whaling Commission is fairly good. Members have some idea of 

 one another's needs, and are usually ready to strive for a common solution. 

 This good atmosphere is in no small part due to the offices of the first four 

 Presidents: Professor B. Bergersen (Norway), Dr R. Kellogg (U.S.A.), 

 Ir. G.J. Lienesch (Holland), each of whom held office for three years, and 

 Mr R. G. R. Wall (Britain), who was elected in 1958. International 

 understanding was also greatly fostered by A. T. A. Dobson (Britain), the 

 first Secretary of the Commission, who served until 1959. The Com- 

 mission has drawn up a number of regulations laid down in the 'Inter- 

 national Convention for the Regulation of Whaling' (Washington, 1946). 

 By the Washington Convention member states have to agree to observe 

 an overall catch limit, to refrain from capturing individuals belonging to 

 species that are endangered, to observe the closed season and areas, to 

 spare animals below a fixed size and particularly cows accompanied by 

 a calf, to process whale carcasses quickly and correctly, etc. Still, the most 



