§ Sir R. Russellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the operations of the International Whaling Commission in recent years in controlling and reducing the hunting of whales, indicating the results of this work.
§ Mr. Anthony Stodart:Since the mid-sixties, following the adoption of arrangements to improve the scientific advice available to the Commission, the restrictions imposed on whaling have become progressively more effective. Together with the continued ban on hunting the species which have been most heavily exploited, the quota restrictions have resulted in a general improvement or stabilisation of stocks. An international observer scheme has recently been introduced to help enforcement, and the Commission has agreed that this year it will improve still further the effectiveness of 109W the quota system by replacing over-all quotas by separate ones for each species. Government policy is to press for further restrictions so as to speed up the recovery of the stocks.
For a fuller account of the work of the Commission I would refer my hon. Friend to my statement in the Adjournment Debate on 1st May, and to the current Schedule to the Convention setting out the regulations now in force, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.—[Vol. 835, c. 166–70.]