189 



Mr. McKernan. That is correct. The "WTialing Commission has put 

 in a total ban on hunting five very important species of whale that 

 are badly depleted. 



I must confess that I am very critical of the Whaling Commission, 

 but I am not as critical as many people who ha^e apj^eared before 

 this committee. 



I personally have followed the Whaling Commission for many 

 years, and I have been disappointed almost every year in their actions, 

 but I believe that the Whaling Commission has done a great deal 

 of good, and continues to improve its record. 



Today, the regulations of the Whaling Commission, while not per- 

 fect, provide reasonable control over the catch of most of the important 

 species that are being taken commercially at the present time. 



Now, before the Commission really became active and became more 

 effective, the great blue whale — one of the great tragedies of the cen- 

 ury, in mv judgment^ — was very seriously depleted, and there is a 

 question whether this whale will ever come back. 



In terms of the sperm whale, these whales are in relatively good 

 abundance, and there is active control, and active work going on to 

 try and improve the current management. 



Now, that Avas brought out by your chairman this morning and 

 several other people. 



The amount of research done on whales is deplorable. It is in no 

 way commensurate with the importance of these great animals. 



Most of the difficulties of the Whaling Commission have resulted 

 from a lack of good information. 



The nations, including the United States, have simply failed to 

 put up the money to carry out adequate, very expensive studies on 

 tliese species. 



Japan and the Soviet Union, the two largest whaling nations, are 

 most derelict in conducting adequate research. 



In my judgment, the Soviet Union and Japan had a responsibility 

 some years ago to put up a great deal more money than they did, 

 since they were the major whaling nations, and to gather more in- 

 formation and they did not do it. 



Be that as it may, we have done very little in studying the popu- 

 lations of whales ourselves. 



Mr. Anderson. We have the fur seal treaty of 1911. We have the 

 International Whaling Commission. 



Do we have any other informal international agreements affecting 

 marine mammals ? 



Mr. McKernan. No. 



Mr. Anderson. Those are the only two ? 



Mr. McKernan. Yes. There is an Antarctic seal convention that is 

 being considered at the present time and may be agreed upon within 

 the near future. 



There is the convention that I mentioned in my testimony dealing 

 with the export, import and transit of certain species of certain wild 

 animals and plants through the lUCN. 



That will also regulate certain of the marine mammals. It recog- 

 nizes and identifies them in the two appendices as being on the one 

 hand endangered, and on the othed hand, low in abundance and in 

 some danger. 



