# International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling

* related portals: Treaties.
* sister projects: Wikipedia article, Wikidata item.
International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling
Washington, 2nd December, 1946
The Governments whose duly authorised representatives have subscribed hereto,
Recognizing the interest of the nations of the world in safeguarding for future generations the great natural resources represented by the whale stocks;
Considering that the history of whaling has seen overfishing of one area after another and of one species of whale after another to such a degree that it is essential to protect all species of whales from further over-fishing;
Recognizing that the whale stocks are susceptible of natural increases if whaling is properly regulated, and that increases in the size of whale stocks will permit increases in the number of whales which may be captured without endangering these natural resources;
Recognizing that it is in the common interest to achieve the optimum level of whale stocks as rapidly as possible without causing widespread economic and nutritional distress;
Recognizing that in the course of achieving these objectives, whaling operations should be confined to those species best able to sustain exploitation in order to give an interval for recovery to certain species of whales now depleted in numbers;
Desiring to establish a system of international regulation for the whale fisheries to ensure proper and effective conservation and development of whale stocks on the basis of the principles embodied in the provisions of the International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling, signed in London on 8th June, 1937, and the protocols to that Agreement signed in London on 24th June, 1938, and 26th November, 1945; and
Having decided to conclude a convention to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry; Have agreed as follows:
Article I
Article II
As used in this Convention:
Article III
Article IV
Article V
Article VI
The Commission may from time to time make recommendations to any or all Contracting Governments on any matters which relate to whales or whaling and to the obectives and purposes of this convention.
Article VII
The Contracting Government shall ensure prompt transmission to the international Bureau for Whaling Statistics at Sandefjord in Norway, or to such other body as the Commission may designate, of notifications and statistical and other information required by this Convention in such form and manner as may be prescribed by the Commission.
Article VIII
Article IX
penalties imposed.
Article X
Article XI
Any Contracting Government may withdraw from this Convention on 30th June, of any year by giving notice on or before lst January, of the same year to the depository Government, Which upon receipt of such a notice shall at once communicate it to the other Contracting Governments. Any other Contracting Government may, in like manner, within one month of the receipt of a copy of such a notice from the depository Government give notice of Withdrawal, so that the Convention shall cease to be in force on 30th June, of the same year with respect to the Government giving such notice of withdrawal.
The Convention shall bear the date on which it is opened for signature and shall remain open for signature for a period of fourteen days thereafter.
In witness whereof the undersigned. being duly authorized, have signed this Convention.
Done in Washington this second day of December, 1945, in the English language, the original of which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America. The Government of the United States of America shall transmit certified copies thereof to all the other signatory and adhering Governments.
Protocol
to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, Signed at Washington Under Date of December 2, 1946
The Contracting Governments to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington under date of 2nd December, 1946 which Convention is hereinafter referred to as the 1945 Whaling Convention, desiring to extend the application of that Convention to helicopters and other aircraft and to include provisions on methods of inspection among those Schedule provisions which may be amended by the Commission, agree as follows:
Article I
Subparagraph 3 of the Article ll of the 1946 Whaling Convention shall be amended to read as follows:
"3. 'whale catcher' means a helicopter, or other aircraft or a ship, used for the purpose of hunting, taking, killing, towing, holding on to, or scouting for whales."
Article II
Paragraph 1 of Article V of the 1946 Whaling Convention shall be amended by deleting the word “and” preceding clause (ii), substituting a semicolon for the period at the end of the paragraph, and adding the following language: "and (i) methods of inspection".
Article III
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned, being duly authorized, have signed this Protocol.
DONE in Washington this nineteenth day of November, 1956, in the English Language, the original of which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the United States of America. The Government of the United States of America shall transmit certified copies thereof to all Governments signatory or adhering to the 1946 Whaling convention.
FOR ARGENTINA: Oscar Ivanissevich, José Manuel Moneta, Guillermo Brown, Pedro H. Bruno Videla FOR AUSTRALIA: Francis F. Anderson FOR BRAZIL: Paulo Fróes da Cruz FOR CANADA: H.H. Wrong, H.A. Scott FOR CHILE: Augustín R. Edwards FOR DENMARK: Peter Friedrich Erichsen FOR FRANCE: Francis Lacoste FOR THE NETHERLANDS: D.J. van Dijk FOR NEW ZEALAND: Guy Richardson Powles FOR NORWAY: Birger Bergersen FOR PERU: Carlos Rotalde FOR THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS: Alexander S. Bogdanov, Eugine I. Nikishin FOR THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND: A.T.A. Dobson, J. Thomson FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Remington Kellogg, Ira N. Gabrielson, William E.S. Flory FOR THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA: H.T. Andrews
This work is in the public domain in the U.S. because it is an edict of a government, local or foreign. See § 313.6(C)(2) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices. Such documents include "legislative enactments, judicial decisions, administrative rulings, public ordinances, or similar types of official legal materials" as well as "any translation prepared by a government employee acting within the course of his or her official duties."
These do not include works of the Organization of American States, United Nations, or any of the UN specialized agencies. See Compendium III § 313.6(C)(2) and 17 U.S.C. 104(b)(5).
A non-American governmental edict may still be copyrighted outside the U.S. Similar to {{PD-in-USGov}}, the above U.S. Copyright Office Practice does not prevent U.S. states or localities from holding copyright abroad, depending on foreign copyright laws and regulations.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse