Fisheries: Whale

Abstract

GG 313 5/68 1 folder, 6 pages. Pages are out of order. Some pages are hard to read. Correspondence from the Secretary of State, 7 Mar. 1917, re. an Application by the Union Whaling and Fishing Co. for a licence to catch whales in the territorial waters of South Georgia or the South Shetland Islands. The reply to this application states that no new licences were issued until Feb. 1916 to provide whale oil for war purposes but at that time no South African firms seemed to have been in a position to undertake the business. Since certain licences were in abeyance due to vessels being employed on war service, applications for temporary facilities were being entertained for firms that had a floating factory for the season 1917-18. But due to the necessity to protect whales, it was considered unlikely that any further licences would be granted at the conclusion of peace.