Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties, declarations and general comments
- Introduction
- 1 The history of whaling
- 2 The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
- 3 The International Whaling Commission
- 4 Cultural diversity
- 5 Environmental ethics, animal rights and the law
- 6 The IWC and its interaction with other organisations and conventions
- 7 Indigenous whaling
- 8 A case study of the protection of the narwhal whale
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Taxonomy of whales: a brief introduction on selected species
- Appendix B 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - The history of whaling
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Table of cases
- Table of treaties, declarations and general comments
- Introduction
- 1 The history of whaling
- 2 The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
- 3 The International Whaling Commission
- 4 Cultural diversity
- 5 Environmental ethics, animal rights and the law
- 6 The IWC and its interaction with other organisations and conventions
- 7 Indigenous whaling
- 8 A case study of the protection of the narwhal whale
- Conclusion
- Appendix A Taxonomy of whales: a brief introduction on selected species
- Appendix B 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Introduction
The present chapter is devoted to outlining, albeit only briefly, the historical aspects of whaling, since, as was stated in the Introduction, this book focuses principally on current issues concerning whaling. This chapter will be primarily focused on whaling and its development throughout the centuries, with special attention to the pre-conventional and early conventional regulation. A substantial part of this chapter will be devoted to analysis of the two pre-Second World War Conventions, the 1931 Geneva Convention and the 1937 London Agreement. The main purpose of this chapter is to show that the contemporary problems concerning whaling are to some extent a continuation of the issues that existed earlier and which prompted States to conclude the above-mentioned treaties.
The 1931 and 1937 Conventions formed the basis for the 1946 Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (which will be discussed in Chapter 2). In order to fully appreciate the 1946 Convention and its role in relation to whales and whaling, it is necessary to present an analysis of previous international instruments. As will be seen, neither of the two preceding Conventions can be hailed as a success. The 1946 Convention is considered by many not to be the most effective international treaty, the reasons for which are complex and are not confined only to legal issues but also extend to scientific and political issues. However, this Convention is still operational after almost seventy years since its signing; therefore, despite the serious problems, it exhibits a certain resilience and longevity.
Pre-conventional whaling
Modern whaling began in 1868. Until that year,
the capture of whales was as crude as it was daring: men from rowing boats would hurl hand-harpoons or bomb-lances at the swiftly moving whale, limiting the catch to those species, such as the Right, Greenland, and Sperm Whales, which floated when dead.
Whaling appears to have begun thousands of years ago, possibly as early as 2200 BC. It is believed that the first organised hunt was conducted by the Basques in 700 AD, followed by the Flemish and the Normans, and then the British and the Dutch, surpassing the whaling activities of the Basques. Spain, Norway and France started whale hunting in the ninth century AD. The British, the Dutch and the Germans expanded their whaling activities to the North Atlantic.
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- Whaling and International Law , pp. 3 - 28Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015