Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00930:reg:2:p4
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00930
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2 (pt 4/48)
Character Range: 73143–76050

in the Southern Hemisphere at this time, removing more than half of whales existing at the time of protection (Tormosov et al. 1998).
In Australia, whaling became an important industry in the early 19th century following European colonisation, with the earliest reports of whaling right whales in 1805 by shore-based whalers in the Derwent Estuary near Hobart (Dakin 1934). The whaling industry in Australia effectively originated in Tasmania, with shore whaling companies from Sydney and Hobart expanding along the eastern Australian coasts, including Victoria, Tasmania and across to New Zealand (Nash 2003, Gibbs 2010). While the shore–based whaling industry operated in Western Australia in the 19th century, it was established later in the 1830's and was not as successful or profitable compared to the eastern parts of the country (Gibbs 2010, Gibbs 2012). Three main types of whaling occurred; 'shore-based', 'bay' and 'pelagic' whaling (Dawbin 1986, Carroll et al. 2014). Bay whaling occurred from 1805 to approximately 1845, and had effectively ceased in Australian waters by 1850 (Dakin 1934, Gill 1966), with the last shore-based Western Australian right whale catch recorded in 1866 when an estimated seven animals were taken (Bannister 1986). It is estimated 53,000 - 58,000 southern right whales were killed in eastern Australia and New Zealand over the 19th and 20th centuries, with most caught between 1830 and 1849 during coastal whaling (Dawbin 1986, Carroll et al. 2014). Following the decline in southern right whale numbers in the 1840's, pelagic whaling became a more prominent and lucrative form of whaling from the 1860's that largely focused on sperm whales. Pelagic whaling operated until the end of the 19th century, and while there was some pelagic whaling of southern right whales their catches in the last three decades were almost exclusively sperm whales (Dawbin 1986).
Prior to whaling, wintering aggregations of southern right whales, particularly cows with calves, were reported across the southern coast of Australia (IWC 2001). Following overexploitation by commercial whaling, southern right whales were thought to be almost extinct in the first half of the 20th century based on a scarcity of reports (Bannister 1986). Shore-based whaling inherently targeted females and calves and both shore- and ship-based whaling was heavily concentrated in southeast Australia and New Zealand (Carroll et al. 2011, Carroll et al. 2015, Harcourt et al. 2019). It is likely that the substantive whaling pressure that occurred off south-east Australia resulted in local extirpation of breeding females and a consequent loss of 'cultural memory' of calving areas, which may explain the slow rate of recovery in the Australian south-east region (Carroll et al. 2015). Southern right whales were only rediscovered in Australia in 1955, with anecdotal reports of a small number of whales