101. Mr. Gresham Cookeasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will state Her Majesty's Government's policy with regard to the International Whaling Convention now that Norway and the Netherlands have given conditional notices of withdrawal.
§ Mr. GodberHer Majesty's Government have reviewed the position arising144W from the actions of the Governments of Norway and the Netherlands in giving notices of withdrawal from the International Whaling Convention to take effect on 30th June this year for the 1959–60 whaling season if agreement is not previously reached upon the allocation, as recommended by the London Whaling Conference of November last, of the Antarctic catch authorised under the Convention.
Her Majesty's Government have considered very seriously in the light of representations from the British whaling industry whether they should take similar action but have decided that the objectives of proper conservation of the whale stocks and the rational conduct of Antarctic whaling would best be served if Her Majesty's Government remain party to the Convention while striving to bring the recommendations of the London Whaling Conference into effect. In their view the Convention is the most satisfactory instrument for ensuring proper conservation, and the recommendations of the London Whaling Conference should provide the best means of securing the rational conduct of Antarctic whaling as between the industries of the several participating countries. These two objectives must be mutually supporting.
If unfortunately the recommendations of the London Whaling Conference should not be put into effect Her Majesty's Government would be obliged to consider whether the present International Whaling Convention would remain workable. If the position should be reached that a Convention no longer fully representative of the Antarctic Whaling countries was failing to secure the conservation of the whale stocks, and at the same time the necessary conditions for the rational conduct of the industry could not he provided, there must be serious doubt whether Her Majesty's Government could continue to remain a party to the Convention. Furthermore, their attitude to any alterations in the arrangements for the regulation of whaling under the Convention that may meantime be proposed will necessarily be governed by the need to avoid prejudice to the position of the British whaling fleets in comparison with any others that might be operating free of the Convention.