Even though whaling activities had become significantly less profitable at the turn of
the nineteenth to twentieth century, the link between overhunting and population
decline was only inertly established—whether knowingly or unknowingly is impossible to determine.
Either way, with the decline in populations, whaling in the northern hemisphere
also declined, and the main focus of international whaling activities rested on
Antarctic pelagic whaling. Up to this point in the early twentieth century, no
international, bi- or multilateral agreement that regulated the hunt for whales could
be found—contrary to the hunt for seals, which we will explore in Chap. 6. Yet, by
the 1920s it became clear that Antarctic whaling operations did not meet the
expectations and that the sustainability of whaling was in jeopardy. On the one
hand, whalers faced increasing difficulties in finding whales that would make their
whaling journeys profitable. On the other hand, the global economic downturn made
the sale of whale oil increasingly difficult. Even though national measures were in
place also in the Antarctic—e.g. in the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia which
at that time was under British hegemony, specific whale species were protected,
opening and closing seasons regulated—it became clear that international action was
required to bring whaling back on its feet. It must be stressed that the focus at that
time was not so much on restoring whale populations for the sake of conservation,
but rather on restoring whale populations for the sake of revitalising the whaling
industry.
5.2.1 The 1931 Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
Particularly two nations, who also quarrelled about the hegemony at sub-Antarctic
South Georgia, had emerged as leading whaling nations internationally: Norway and
the United Kingdom. Both countries had whaling regulations in place, but their
approach to an international regime differed greatly. Norway’s expertise in crafting
legal instruments concerning whaling made it a forerunner in the development of
international whaling regimes. The UK, on the other hand, believed that whaling is
best regulated through individual bi- or multilateral agreements and not through a
global regime. At the fore of the UK’s argument stood its science-based approach
which did not consider a global whaling regime on par with science-based decisionmaking. Since the ‘camps’ amongst the whaling countries could not agree on the best
way to proceed in this matter, the issue was transferred to the Economic Committee
of the League of Nations, which was the forerunner of the UN. Already in 1925 the
League had initiated the process of determining a way forward as regards the use of
marine fauna, including whales, and several conferences were held to consider
global action and to discuss ways and means to ensure sustainable industries. In
the end, at a 1929 conference, the League of Nations recommended the convention
of an expert committee in Berlin in April 1930. Here, the first attempt to draw up an
international whaling treaty was made, for which the Norwegian Whaling Act of
1929 served as a blueprint. 1930 furthermore marked the year in which the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) established the Bureau of
82
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales
the nineteenth to twentieth century, the link between overhunting and population
decline was only inertly established—whether knowingly or unknowingly is impossible to determine.
Either way, with the decline in populations, whaling in the northern hemisphere
also declined, and the main focus of international whaling activities rested on
Antarctic pelagic whaling. Up to this point in the early twentieth century, no
international, bi- or multilateral agreement that regulated the hunt for whales could
be found—contrary to the hunt for seals, which we will explore in Chap. 6. Yet, by
the 1920s it became clear that Antarctic whaling operations did not meet the
expectations and that the sustainability of whaling was in jeopardy. On the one
hand, whalers faced increasing difficulties in finding whales that would make their
whaling journeys profitable. On the other hand, the global economic downturn made
the sale of whale oil increasingly difficult. Even though national measures were in
place also in the Antarctic—e.g. in the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia which
at that time was under British hegemony, specific whale species were protected,
opening and closing seasons regulated—it became clear that international action was
required to bring whaling back on its feet. It must be stressed that the focus at that
time was not so much on restoring whale populations for the sake of conservation,
but rather on restoring whale populations for the sake of revitalising the whaling
industry.
5.2.1 The 1931 Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
Particularly two nations, who also quarrelled about the hegemony at sub-Antarctic
South Georgia, had emerged as leading whaling nations internationally: Norway and
the United Kingdom. Both countries had whaling regulations in place, but their
approach to an international regime differed greatly. Norway’s expertise in crafting
legal instruments concerning whaling made it a forerunner in the development of
international whaling regimes. The UK, on the other hand, believed that whaling is
best regulated through individual bi- or multilateral agreements and not through a
global regime. At the fore of the UK’s argument stood its science-based approach
which did not consider a global whaling regime on par with science-based decisionmaking. Since the ‘camps’ amongst the whaling countries could not agree on the best
way to proceed in this matter, the issue was transferred to the Economic Committee
of the League of Nations, which was the forerunner of the UN. Already in 1925 the
League had initiated the process of determining a way forward as regards the use of
marine fauna, including whales, and several conferences were held to consider
global action and to discuss ways and means to ensure sustainable industries. In
the end, at a 1929 conference, the League of Nations recommended the convention
of an expert committee in Berlin in April 1930. Here, the first attempt to draw up an
international whaling treaty was made, for which the Norwegian Whaling Act of
1929 served as a blueprint. 1930 furthermore marked the year in which the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) established the Bureau of
82
5 The International Legal Framework for Whales