496 



of 415 blue-whale units. Oil production from tfhese was 54 barrels per blue-whale 

 unit. Production by other companies in the Antarctic always averaged over 100 

 barrels and usually about 118 barrels per blue-whale unit. Production at such 

 a low level of efficiency could hardly have been remunerative. 



Legal responsibility for the infractions committed by the Olympic Challenger 

 must be placed on the Panamanian government rather than on Onassis or the 

 managers of the Olympic Whaling Company. The principle of t'he freedom of 

 the seas grants to every nation the right to use the resources of the high seas in 

 any manner it chooses. Any regulations governing the use of those resources must 

 be accepted by a nation before its citizens or corporations are subject to them. 

 The Republic of Panama was a member of the International Whaling Commis- 

 sion in name only. At most meetings of t'he Cosnmission, Panama by its own 

 choice was not represented ; the government did not care to send a delegate. 

 Panama was usually many years in arrears in its annual contributions to the 

 operating budget of the Whaling Commission (annual contributions ranged from 

 £150 to £300). As a member of the commission. Panama did place 2 inspectors 

 on the Olympic Challenger to ensure compliance with the regulations adopted by 

 the Commission. The negligent practices of the Panamanian inspectors and the 

 false infraction reports submitted by them showed them to be eitlier incomi)etent 

 or corrupt (the evidence points to corruption but does not rule out incompetence). 

 The Norwegian Foreign Office sent proof of the infractions to the government of 

 Panama, which replied that the Panamanian inspectors were officials of the 

 government and the government could hardly repudiate itself. Subsequent notes 

 of protest by Norv\-ay to Panama went unanswered. 



The government of the Republic of Panama obviously was not concerned with 

 enforcing regulations adopted by t'he International Whaling Commission. Nor 

 was Panama interested in participating in the formulation of those regulations. 

 The actions and attitudes of the government of Panama had destructive con- 

 sequences on the high seas. Their only virtue was a lack of pretense of concern 

 for the fate of the blue whale and its congeners. 



The International Whaling Commission exemplifies everything that 

 we hope the Commission proposed under H.R. 10420 will not be. It is 

 industry-dominated, yet is able to hide behind its scientific advisers 

 who, despite the fact that their views are often ignored by it, doggedly 

 defend it in public. Industry with a scientific veneer is a dangerous 

 enemy of true conservation. The International Whaling Commission 

 is a classic example of wildlife management gone wrong, and I would 

 suggest that anyone who defends this travesty be automatically dis- 

 qualified, from serving on the Commission or scientific committee pro- 

 posed in H.R. 10420. If our country should have the misfortune to 

 create a miniature IWC to decide the fate of marine mammals, then 

 these hearings would have been in vain, and we would be moving back- 

 ward rather than forward. 



I went to visit the headquarters of the IWC in London earlier this 

 year and was shown into a narrow office crammed with stacks of re- 

 ports. Certainly no one could complain that spendthrifts were in 

 charge. It is hard to envision the casual payment of fines of millions of 

 dollars by companies supposedly controlled in this cramped and shabby 

 room with its single youthful occupant. The result of my visit was a 

 letter informing me that I would not be permitted to attend as an 

 observer at the Commission's meetings in Washington this June. 



Mr. Chairman, there has been an attempt to emphasize the difference 

 in views of the so-called pure protectionists and the wildlife managers. 

 This is regrettable. Both groups, however determined that they have 

 a monopoly on being right, could adopt a good deal of each other's 

 philosophy to the advantage of the animals. In this age of polluting 

 and overharvesting of the food on which ocean mammals are depend- 

 ent, and at a time when the passion for motorboats is known to be 

 endangering the manatees and southern sea otters, how can the pure 



