CO885-(20-21) — Page 286

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

21 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Grantee.

Period.

10

Whether onnoe is

Revocable.

Purpose.

exclusive.

1. Henderson 14 years from As in No. 6,

Island granted

1st April. 1910.

to James Watt

and James

Bunks.

**with parmia-

sion to out and

nse timber and other vege table growth, but not to. export the same."

8. The Ashmore 10 years from As in No. 5

Islandegranted

the lat Janu-

to Mr. J. J.

Wilkinson.

ary, 1908.

"the exclusive right As in No. 1

to occupy the said

island for his own

пse.'

"the exclusive right As in No. 8

to occupy the said

islands for his own use."

APPENDIX IV.

•

Remark.

A royalty of 10% of the selling price of each ton of guano, hut in any case not less than 2s, a ton; and after the first there is to be a minimum payment of £100 year.

A royalty of 10/- per

ton, but not less than 2600 per an

num.

WHALING LEASES AND LICENCES IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS AND THE DEPENDENCIES.

When the whale fishery of the Falkland Islands was first dealt with by law a few years ago, the Government adopted a system of charging royalties on each whale caught. This was considered to be objectionable from the point of view of international law, as it involved a The Ordinance was repealed and the fishery is now claim to control fishing on the high seas. regulated by Ordinance 5 of 1908. This Ordinance forbids the taking of whales in the Colonial waters without u licence from the Colonial Secretary (paragraph 1). Subject to any regulations made by the Governor in Council (paragraph 3), the Governor is empowered to settle in regard to each licence (paragraph 2):—

(a) the period;

(b) the number and tonnage of vessels to be employed in taking whules; (c) the limits of the Colonial waters within which whales may be taken:

(d) in which of the Dependencies the licensee may use the harbours in virtue of his

licence.

The fee for a whaling licence is £100 (paragraph 3). The penalty for taking whales without a licence is £300 for each offence in the case of a master or owner (paragraph 5), and £100 in the case of anybody else (paragraph 6). The penalty payable by an owner or master may, if the Court so order, be recovered by arrest and sale of the vessel (paragraph 91.

The Governor in Council may make regulations--

(a) for fixing the conditions of licences;

(b) regulating the number of licences to be granted in any one year:

(c) defining the limits within which a licence holder may take whales;

(d) regulating the number to be taken;

(e) as to the sale of forfeited whales, oil, &c.:

(f) generally for carrying out the Ordinance.

The owner or lessee of any land may take possession of a derelict whale, with the permission of the Governor in Council, and on payment of any royalty. Provision is made for taking whales for scientific purposes.

The form of licence under the Ordinance provides for payment of the fee either at the Colonial Treasury or to the Crown Agents. It specifies the names of the vessels to be employed in taking whales, the limits within which they may be taken (ie., whether in the waters of the Colony ouly, or also in those of some or all of the Dependencies), and the harbours to be used; and it requires the licensee to report the number and description of whales taken and the quantity of whale-oil and whale-bone obtained.

Falkland Islands Ordinances do not necessarily apply to the Dependencies, but can be extended to them by the Governor in Council under Section 3 of Ordinance 9 of 1908. The Dependencies in question are South Georgia, the South Orkneys, the South Shetlands, the In South Georgia, where there is a population Sandwich Islands, and Graham's Land.

"

fluctuating between 1,500 and 3,000, there is now a resident magistrate, but in the other Dependencies there is no representative of the Government and no attempt at administration. The Argentine Government maintains a Meteorological Observatory in the South Orkneys, and. as Argentina claims the political sovereignty of this group as well as the Falklands themselves. fishery questions have to be subordinated to political considerations.

floating factory," on which the blubber is A modern whaling expedition consists of a rendered, and of several smaller steam vessels which catch the whales and tow them to the factory. As quantities of fresh water are required for boiling down, the factory is obliged to enter territorial waters, and thus it becomes possible to tax the industry without setting up a claim to the high-sea fishery. It is not certain whether a factory can be so equipped as to deal with the whole carcase of the whales. In practice it may safely be assumed that it does not do so: the best parts of the whale only are utilized, and the rest wasted. The Norwegians

have the reputation of using wasteful methods. It is understood that British firms are more economical. Where there is an establishment on shore it is possible to insist on the whole of the flesh being treated, and the bones ground for mauure. All this, of course, involves expensive apparatus and considerable expenditure on coal; and no whaler can be expected to undertake to treat the whole of the whale unless he is assured of fixity of tenure. The policy of the Falklands Government is now to insist on the whole carcase being utilized in shore establishments, but, for the present, no attempt is made to impose this condition when licences are issued for floating factories.

The Government has tried to limit the number of vessels employed by any one expedition, primarily with the object of preventing exhaustion of the fishery, but also with a view to increasing the revenue. Only the steam whalers," or vessels actually employed in taking whales, are limited, as there is no object in restricting the number of other vessels belonging to the expedition. This policy has only recently been adopted. Considerable difficulty has been experienced in carrying it out, owing to the necessity to respect existing rights. The rule now observed in the case of new-comers is that a lease or licence covers two steam whalers. Some companies have, however, the right to employ three or four, and in the waters of the Colony proper Messrs. Salvesen & Co., of Leith, are allowed to employ five for special reasons not connected with the whaling industry. The number of companies operating in any one dependency has been limited in South Georgia only. The conditions in that island are peculiar. Also the Government is under contract with the pioneers of the industry not to allow more thau eight companies in all to work there.

The

No attempt has been made to regulate the number of whales taken in any one season. industry is so speculative that it would not be fair to prevent whalers from taking full advantage of a good season. Big profits are made in a good season. One company is reported to have cleared £100,000 in a season recently. On the other hand, it must be remembered that the catch is uncertain as the course of the whales through the ocean differs from year to year. Again, the risk of loss of the expedition is so great that two years ago whaling vessels would not be insured at any price, aud this year underwriters are trying to exclude ice risks from the policies.

As the conditions under which the fishery is carried on in the waters under the control of the Government of the Falklands differ, it may be well to state separately the special circum- stances affecting the Colony proper, South Georgia, and the other Dependencies.

I. In the Colony of the Falkland Islands, annual licences to take whales are issued to all applicants. One firm, Messrs. Salvesen & Co., have a shore establishment, but, as it is built on private land, there is no question of prescribing conditions for the factory. Of course. no one would build on the strength of an annual licence, and Messrs. Salvesen have been formally assured that it will be renewed for a term of 20 years. In spite of their having five steam whalers at work. Messrs. Salvesen report that the last season in the Falklands was unprofitable.

II. A factory was built in South Georgia by an Argentine company without the permission of the Government, but when the company found that the island was claimed as British terri- tory they agreed to take out a lease, which has served as a model for subsequent leases. Next season there will be six or seven companies operating in the island. Leases are granted for twenty years at an annual rent of £250 a year, which includes the right to take whales without further payment. The lease usually professes to grant an area of 500 acres. Probably there is no site in the island containing anything like so large an area of accessible ground, but that extent was named in the first lease in ignorance of local conditions, and other leases have followed. In practice the question of area is immaterial, as rare is taken that not more than one company shall occupy any one bay or inlet. Applicants for leases are required to select a site where they will not interfere with the operations of any other lessee, and to submit a plan of the site and the adjoining coast. If no objection is raised by prior applicants the site is granted and the plan attached to the lease. In the more recent leases the lessees are required to utilize the whole carcase of the whale, and not to employ more than two steam whalers. The Government has succeeded in restricting all the older companies but one to three steam whalers, and in exacting an extra payment of £100 from some of them for the privilege of employing the third vessel. It has been under consideration whether any lessee who has not actually erected a shore establishment could be required to dispose of the waste of his catch to a shore factory, but this and other questions are being held up for further information. It is not known exactly how many shore establishments there are.

At the opening of last whaling season, in October, 1909, a magistrate was sent, with two constables. to South Georgia to maintain order. His report has not yet been received, but from private correspondence it appears that his presence has been very necessary. So far as is known there has not been any trouble between the employés of different companies, but there have

"grog-ship been labour difficulties.

attempted to anchor at South Georgia, and if the magistrate had not been there to order her off there might well have been disturbances.

It will be seen from the above that South Georgia is now in effect a Colony with a rudi- mentary administration. It has a system of law, and the Supreme Court of the Falkland Islands has jurisdiction there. This island has, therefore, little or nothing in common with the uninhabited islands now being considered by the Committee.

A

..

It may be added that the South Georgia leases usually incorporate the Falklands Land Ordinance, and that if one of these leases were taken as a model for a whaling lense elsewhere. it would be necessary to consider the provisions of the Ordinance (a long and complicated one) as well as the text of the lease.

III. The other Dependencies. It was the original intention that a whaling licence should cover all the Dependencies except South Georgia, but it is not known how far the Government of the Falkland Islands has carried out this policy. Annual licences are freely issued for the South Shetlands and South Orkneye. All applications for leases have been refused for the reasons that in the South Shetlands only two harbours are at present known to exist, and

16020

B

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