CO885-(21-23) — Page 302

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 885

22 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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

SIR,

80

Enclosure 1 in No. 40.

Board of Trade (Marine Department),

7, Whitehall Gardens, London, S. W., 26th September, 1913.

I AM directed by the Board of Trade to state that they have under considera- tion a suggestion that some action should be taken with a view to the regulation of the whaling industry. The Board would be glad if they might be favoured with the observations of the Dundee Chamber of Commerce as to the desirability of such action, together with any information bearing on the question which may be in the possession of the Chamber. In particular they would be glad to learn what, in the opinion of the Chamber, are the causes that have led to the decay of the whaling industry as carried on from Dundee; to what extent it has resulted from a diminu- tion in the numbers of whales of the various species commonly hunted; and how far any such diminution can be attributed to the methods adopted by whalers in the past, or to the killing of whales having proceeded more rapidly than the natural increase of the species.

The Board would be glad to receive any information on these points which the Chamber of Commerce may be able to furnish, either from its records or otherwise.

I am, &c.,

GARNHAM ROPER.

The Secretary,

Dundee Chamber of Commerce, Dundee.

DEAR SIR,

Enclosure 2 in No. 40.

Chamber of Commerce (Incorporated),

Dundee, 3rd October, 1913. In reply to your letter of 26th September, I am directed to state that the decay of the whaling industry, as carried on from Dundee, is due not so much to the scarcity of the whale as the low value of the Arctic produce.

So long as whale-bone was at about £2,000 per ton it was worth risking, but bone now is selling considerably under £1,000 per ton.

I append herewith a note of the statistics of the catch for the years 1905-10, the only figures that are available.

The Assistant Secretary,

29140

Board of Trade,

(Marine Department), London.

Yours faithfully,

GEO. C. KULLER,

Secretary.

Statistics referred to.

Black Whales.

Base.

Oil,

Wairus.

Cwts.

Tons.

1905

23

339

290

122

1906

7

73

111

534

1907

3

32

97

634

1908

15

153

307

899

1909

15

139

185

730

1910

17

257

287

1,447

No. 41.

MEMORANDUM RELATING TO WHALES AND WHALING (Furnished by the British Museum (Natural History)).

November 7, 1913.

The Interdepartmental Committee, which has been formed "to consider the question of the protection of whales and of the whaling industry," ask for informa-

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tion on two points (1) The evidence as to the need for protecting whales and the whaling industry; (2) migration and seasonal appearances of whales.

(1) THE NEED FOR PROTECTING WHALES.

The protection of the whaling industry has both a commercial and a scientific interest, for it is obvious that in order to protect the industry it is essential to protect the animals on which it thrives.

The necessity of protecting whales is amply proved by an appeal to history. The facts which might be quoted are embarrassingly numerous; and a mere selection, taken almost at random, must suffice. The most instructive case is that of the Green- land Whale, the most valuable of all Cetacea, owing to the great length and superior quality of its whalebone, and the specially large quantity of oil which the blubber yields. It can be confidently stated that this magnificent animal, once so common in Arctic waters, has reached the verge of extermination, simply and solely as the result of the persecution it has endured.

A certain number of references, which I quote below by their number, are given at the end of this Memorandum. The list makes no claim to be a complete one, or even to cover all the ground, but it includes papers from which much information may be extracted with regard to whales and whaling.

A contemporary account of the whaling industry at the height of its prosperity was published by Scoresby (6) in 1820; although it must be remembered that this author did not distinguish between the "Greenland Whale" (Baland mysticetus) and the allied" Biscay Whale," " Atlantic Right Whale," or " Nordkaper " (B. glacialis= biscayensis). Scoresby gives a valuable and interesting account of the whaling operations; but it is evident from it that some reduction in number had already taken place when he wrote:-

[Pages 172, 173.) "At this time [1607], the mysticetus was found in immense numbers throughout the whole extent of the coast [of Spitzbergen].

Never having been disturbed, these animals were unconscious of danger.

It was not necessary that the ships should cruize abroad throughout the extended regions of the Polar Seas, as they do at the present time

the shore of Jan Mayen Island, in proportion to its extent; afforded them in like abundance."

The Spitzbergen "fishery" became extinct at a later period. Lilljeborg states (2, p. 307) that "the whales were almost exterminated in the seas of Spitzbergen, and the whalers commenced, as early as the first part of the eighteenth century, to leave this sea for that of Greenland and Davis Strait." The whale fisheries of the Danish Colonies in Greenland have decreased considerably since 1827. Six whales were caught during 1849-1851, none in the three succeeding years, and only three during In an earlier part of the same volume (pp. 13, 14) we may find Eschricht and Reinhardt's statement that in the 59 years from 1719 to 1778 the Dutch alone caught 6,986 whales in Davis Strait and Disco Bay (about 118 a year), and that in four years only (1827-1830) 3,391 whales were caught," and the persecution was carried on with great success and very extensively, until the profits

began to diminish,

1855-1856.

and the fishing trade gradually to dwindle away, until it reached its present com- paratively unimportant state."

If we turn to Scoresby (6) we find (p. 121) the year 1814 mentioned as a specially prosperous one, 76 ships on the Greenland fishery having procured 1,437 whales. On p. 123 Scoresby states that a single vessel obtained 44 whales, near Spitzbergen, in that year.

The number of the vessels employed during the prosperous days of the Greenland whale fishery is sufficient evidence of the persecution which was going on; though in comparing the present with the past it must be remembered that the possession of the modern harpoon with its explosive charge renders the whaling ship of to-day far more effective as an instrument of destruction than were the old Arctic whalers, which, nevertheless, reduced the Greenland whale to the verge of extinction.

On p. 119 Scoresby gives a tabular statement of the number of ships (British) engaged in the Greenland and Davis Straits whaling during a period of 39 years, from 1750 to 1788. Beginning with 20 (England, 19; Scotland, 1) in 1750, it rose, with fluctuations, to the last year of the period in question, when it had reached 253. Somewhat later, the number of ships seems to have fallen, since on the next page, 97

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