L17 - Historical Whaling

Question 1

history of whaling (3)

Answer 1

1. subsistence whaling
2. drive fishery
3. modern whaling
   - sailing era
   - mechanized whaling

Question 2

subsistence whaling (2)

Answer 2

1. marine mammal remains in middens from 8000+ years ago
2. aboriginal hunting regularly in 9th century
   - aleuts: poisoned harpoon
   - recovered whale onshore

Question 3

drive fishery (3)

Answer 3

1. coastal effort
2. small cetaceans scared into shallows by loud banging noises
3. still occurs in:
   - faeroe islands: pilot whales
   - japan: small coastal cetaceans

Question 4

basque whalers (3)

Answer 4

1. bay of biscay
2. 1st large scale commercial whaling
3. early 11th century
4. north atlantic right whales
5. followed by british, dutch

Question 5

sailing era (3)

Answer 5

1. most whales used for oil
2. baleen commercially important
   - pre-plastics
   - corsets, buggy whips, umbrellas
3. whales brought to land before spoling

Question 6

japanese whaling (2)

Answer 6

1. used nets to capture
2. wasted nothing
   - ate meat
   - oil for soaps and lamps
   - bones crushed for fertilizer
   - baleen for fans and fishing rods
   - internal organs for medicines

Question 7

yankee whalers (5)

Answer 7

1. late 1600s, nantucket fleet
2. hunted right, humpback and atlantic grey whales (now extinct)
3. 1712 sperm whale specialists
4. excellent lubricant and smokeless, scented candles
5. iron cauldrons on boats=longer trips

Question 8

mechanized whaling (6)

Answer 8

1. rorquals
   - steam power ships
   - svend gun
   - remote stations
   - factory ships
   - international whaling commission (IWC)

Question 9

svend gun

Answer 9

explosive grenade harpoon mounted on a powered catcher boat

Question 10

factory ships - 1925 (2)

Answer 10

1. all processing occurred onboard
2. fin whale=1/2 hour
3. huge southern ocean whaling
4. unregulated whaling=major population declines

Question 11

first regulations (3)

Answer 11

1. 1931 protection of right whales (starting 1935(
2. 1937 grey whales
3. international convention for regulation of whaling (ICRW)

Question 12

international convention fr regulation of whaling (2)

Answer 12

1. treaty (1937)
   - limited antarctic factory ships
   - set minuimum sizes for humpback, blue, sei, fin and sperm whales
2. japan and USSR objected

Question 13

ICRW 1946 (4)

Answer 13

1. established in the IWC
2. goal: to provide the conservation of whaling stocks and this make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry
3. membership - open to any nation adhering to 1946 convention
4. originally 15 nations - included US, UK, USSR, Brazil, Australia

Question 14

blue whale units (BWU)

Answer 14

BWU: 1 blue = 2 fins = 2.5 humpbacks = 6 seis (no biological basis)

Question 15

international whaling commissions (IWC) (3)

Answer 15

1. 1960s - biologically based management
2. MSY: maximum sustainable yield - manage stocks at a level where production highest and the greatest number can be sustainably harvested
3. no enforcement or inspections
4. 1960s-1970s: protection of blue whale and humpback, abandoned BWU
5. 1974: new management procedure - geographic stock management
6. 1982: moratorium on whaling (1985)
7. 1994: revised management procedure (RMP)

Question 16

revised management plan (RMP) (4)

Answer 16

1. ensure depleted stocks are rehabilitated
2. computer models to determine allowable catches
   - current abundance, history of exploitation, levels of incidental take
3. no whaling below 54% of initial abundace
4. target: 72% of initial level

Question 17

modern IWC issues (4)

Answer 17

1. are killing methods humane?
2. aboriginal whaling
   - alaska inuit and cukotka: 280 bowhead, 620 gray whales (4+yrs)
   - greenlanders: 19 fin, 189 minke
   - makah: olympic peninsula, WA
3. japanese scientific whaling: minke 220, sei 100, sperm 10, brydes 50, fin 50

Question 18

scientific whaling (4)

Answer 18

1. obtain info for conservation and sustainability of marine living resources
2. studying:
   - feeding ecology (prey consumption and preferences, ecosystem modeling)
   - stock structure
   - environmental effects on cetaceans and marine ecosystem

Question 19

modern IWC issues: 2005 meeting (2)

Answer 19

1. japan proposed removal of moratorium

2. measure defeated (29-23, needed 3/4)

Question 20

modern IWC issues: 2007 meeting (3)

Answer 20

1. unanimous decision to continue US and Russia indigenous hunts (2010)
2. greenland requested and received increase to 200 mink, 19 fin and 2 bowhead
3. japan proposed deal to abandon antarctic humpback harvest
   - in reture, requests local commercial minke harvest