The Amendment to the Convention effectuated by the Protocol which authorized the Commission to 

 adopt regulations fixing "methods of inspection" was intended to assure that impartial inspectors 

 participated in the observation of whaling activities. It was anticipated that an international corps of 

 neutral observers would be established, responsible to and paid by the Commission; and that one such 

 observer, not a national of the country of registration, would be assigned by the Commission to each 

 factory ship on a seasonal basis.* " ' But no such international system of inspection was inaugurated and 

 the agreement to estabUsh it has expired. 



5. Activities 



Although the research sponsored by the Commission "has added greatly to knowledge of the size and 

 sustainable yield of the existing stocks of whales", the regulatory activity of the Commission has not 

 been successful and the fear has been expressed that "there is the distinct possibility that (the 

 Commission) may soon become defunct, together wath the whale resources and the whaling 

 industry.""*^ More recent events, described below, afford a basis for a less pessimistic view. 



Antarctic whaling has presented the Commission with its most difficult problems. The Antarctic is 

 the principal remaining area where are found commercially exploitable concentrations of baleen whales. 

 The Antarctic overall catch quota was originally set by the Convention at 16,000 blue whale units (one 

 blue whale unit equals one blue whale, or two fin whales, or two and one half humpback whales, or six 

 sei whales).*'*^ Many regarded this quota as too high, but it was dictated in large part by the serious 

 shortage of edible fats and oils in the European countries immediately after World War 11.'^^ In 

 response to evidence that the Antarctic stocks were declining at an accelerating rate, the Commission 

 lowered the quota to 15,500 units in 1953, 15,000 in 1955 and 14,500 in 1956. It was increased to 

 15,000 in 1959. The quota was suspended for 1960 and 1961, restored to 15,000 in 1962 and lowered 

 to 10,000 in 1963.'''^ In 1963, also, complete protection for humpback whales and almost complete 

 protection for blue whales was imposed.*'** 



That the 10,000 quota was in effect no limitation became evident when the catch of all the whaling 

 countries in the 1963/64 season totalled only 8,429 units.*'" In 1964, the scientists estimated that a 

 quota of less than 3,000 units would be required to make a start on recovery of the fin whales and sei 

 whales and that complete protection of blues and humpbacks would continue to be required.*'*^ But 

 the Antarctic whaling countries were unable to agree on any quota and so none was fixed by the 

 Commission for the 1964/65 season.*"' 



In 1958 and 1959, the nations then engaged in whaling in the Antarctic (Soviet Union, Japan, United 

 Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands) met outside the confines of the Convention in an attempt to allocate 

 the total catch among themselves. The Convention itself prohibits the Commission from making such an 



This account of the effort at establishing a system of international inspection is based upon Johnston, The 

 International Law of Fisheries 410 (1965). 



Statement by United States Senate Commerce Committee Staff, Treaties and other International Agreements 

 etc., supra note 53, at 199-200. 



Convention, Original Schedule, par. 8. 



Statement of United States Senate Commerce Committee Staff, Treaties and other International Agreements etc., 

 supra note 53, at 199. 



Id., Schedule as amended as of Jan. 22, 1965, par. 8. Twelfth (1961) Annual Report of International Commission 

 on Whaling, at 3. 



'"^M, Schedule as amended Jan. 22, 1965, par. 8. 



Statement of United States Senate Commerce Committee Staff, Treaties and other International Agreements etc., 

 supra note 53, at 200. 



*"«/W<i. 



*"'/Wd 



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