18. Whaling Convention Act of 1949 1

Public Law 81-676 [S. 2080], 64 Stat. 421, approved August 9, 1950

AN ACT To authorize the regulation of whaling and to give effect to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington under date of December 2, 1946,2 by the United States of America and certain other governments, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

Section 1.3 That this Act may be cited as the "Whaling Convention Act of 1949".

Sec. 2.4 When used in this Act

(a) Convention: The word "Convention" means the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington under the date of December 2, 1946, by the United States of America and certain other governments.

(b) Commission: The word "Commission" means the International Whaling Commission established by article III of the convention. (c) United States Commissioner: The words "United States Commissioner" mean the member of the International Whaling Commission representing the United States of America appointed pursuant to article III of the convention and section 3 of this Act.

(d) Person: The word "person" denotes every individual, partnership, corporation, and association subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(e) Vessel: The word "vessel" denotes every kind, type, or description of water craft or contrivance subject to the jurisdiction of the United States used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation.

(f) Factory ship: The words "factory ship" mean a vessel in which or on which whales are treated or processed, whether wholly or in part.

(g) Land station: The words "land station" mean a factory on the land at which whales are treated or processed, whether wholly or in part.

(h) Whale catcher: The words "whale catcher" mean a vessel used for the purposes of hunting, killing, taking, towing, holding onto, or scouting for whales.

1 See also sec. 405 of the Department of State Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 1980 and 1981 (Public Law 96-60; 93 Stat. 403), which urged the International Whaling Commission to agree to a moratorium on the commercial killing of whales. The section also called upon specific countries to comply voluntarily with a moratorium. For complete text, see Legislation on Foreign Relations Through 1990, vol. II, page 199.

2 62 Stat. 1716: TIAS 1849: 4 Bevans 248; 161 UNTS 62.

3 16 U.S.C. 916 note.

4 16 U.S.C. 916.

(i) Whale products: The words "whale products" mean any unprocessed part of a whale and blubber, meat, bones, whale oil, sperm oil, spermaceti, meal, and baleen.

(j) Whaling: The word "whaling" means the scouting for, hunting, killing, taking, towing, holding onto, and flensing of whales, and the possession, treatment, or processing of whales or of whale products.

(k) Regulations of the Commission: The words "regulations of the Commission" mean the whaling regulations in the schedule annexed to and constituting a part of the convention in their original forms or as modified, revised, or amended by the Commission from time to time, in pursuance of article V of the convention.

(1) Regulations of the Secretary of Commerce: 5 The words "regulations of the Secretary of Commerce" means such regulations as may be issued by the Secretary of Commerce, from time to time, in accordance with sections 11 and 12 of this Act.

Sec. 3. (a) The United States Commissioner shall be appointed by the President, on the concurrent recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce, and shall serve at the pleasure of the President.

(b) The President may appoint a Deputy United States Commissioner, on the concurrent recommendations of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Commerce. The Deputy United States Commissioner shall serve at the pleasure of the President and shall be the principal technical adviser to the United States Commissioner, and shall be empowered to perform the duties of the Commissioner in case of the death, resignation, absence, or illness of the Commissioner.

(c) The United States Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, although officers of the United States Government, shall receive no compensation for their services.

Sec. 4.7 The Secretary of State is authorized, with the concurrence of the Secretary of Commerce, to present or withdraw any objections on behalf of the United States Government to such regulations or amendments of the schedule to the convention as are adopted by the Commission and submitted to the United States Government in accordance with article V of the convention. The Secretary of State is further authorized to receive on behalf of the United States Government reports, requests, recommendations, and other communications of the Commission, and to act thereon either directly or by reference to the appropriate authority.

Sec. 5.8 (a) It shall be unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (1) to engage in whaling in violation of the convention or of any regulation of the Commission, or of this Act, or of any regulation of the Secretary of Commerce; (2) to ship, transport, purchase, sell, offer for sale, import, export, or have in possession any whale or whale products taken or processed in violation of the convention, or of any regulation of the Commission, or

5 Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1970 (35 F.R. 15627; 84 Stat. 2090) substituted the "Secretary of Commerce" for the "Secretary of the Interior" and the "Department of Commerce" for the "United States Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior".

6 16 U.S.C. 916a.

7 16 U.S.C. 916b.

816 U.S.C. 916c.

of this Act, or of any regulation of the Secretary of Commerce; (3) to fail to make, keep, submit, or furnish any record or report required of him by the convention, or by any regulation of the Commission, or by any regulation of the Secretary of Commerce, or to refuse to permit any officer authorized to enforce the convention, the regulations of the Commission, this Act, and the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce, to inspect such record or report at any reasonable time.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person or vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to do any act prohibited or to fail to do any act required by the convention, or by this Act, or by any regulation adopted by the Commission, or by any regulation of the Secretary of Commerce.

Sec. 6.9 (a) No person shall engage in whaling without first having obtained an appropriate license or scientific permit. Such licenses shall be issued by the Secretary of Commerce or such officer or the Department of the Interior as may be designated by him: Provided, That the Secretary, in his discretion and by appropriate regulation, may waive the payment of any license fee or the requirement that a license first be obtained, in connection with the salvage of any "Dauhval" or unclaimed dead whale found floating or stranded.

(b) The following licenses and fees shall be required for each calendar year or any fraction thereof and shall be nontransferable except under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Secretary:

(1) Land-station license for primary processing of whales, $250.

(2) Land-station license for secondary processing of parts of whales delivered to it by a land station licensed as a primary processor, $100.

(3) Factory-ship license for primary processing of whales delivered by whaler catchers, $250.

(4) License for any vessel used exclusively for transporting whale products from a factory ship to a port during the whaling season, $100.

(5) Whale-catcher license, $100.

(c) All moneys derived from the issuance of whaling licenses shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States, and no license fee shall be refunded by reason of the failure of any person to whom a license has been issued to utilize the facility in whaling for which such license was issued.

(d) Any person, in making application for a license to operate a whale catcher, must furnish evidence or affidavit satisfactory to the Secretary of Commerce that, in addition to conforming to other applicable laws and regulations, (1) the whale catcher is adequately equipped and competently manned to engage in whaling in accordance with the provisions of the convention, the regulations of the Commission, and the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce; (2) gunners and crews will be compensated on some basis that does not depend primarily on the number of whales taken; and (3) no bonuses or other partial remuneration with relation to the number of

916 U.S.C. 916d.

whales taken shall be paid to gunners and crews in respect of the taking of any whales, the taking of which is prohibited.

(e) Any person, in making application for a license to operate a land station or a factory ship must furnish evidence or affidavits to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Commerce that, in addition to conforming to other applicable laws and regulations, such land station or factory ship is adequately equipped to comply with provisions of the convention, of the regulations of the Commission, and of the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce with respect to the processing of whales or the manufacture of whale products.

Sec. 7.10 Any person who fails to make, keep, or furnish any catch return, statistical record, or any report that may be required by the convention or by any regulation of the Commission, or by this Act, or by a regulation of the Secretary of Commerce, or any person who furnishes a false return, record, or report, upon conviction, shall be subject to such fine as may be imposed by the court not to exceed $500, and shall in addition be prohibited from whaling, processing, or possessing whales, and whale products from the date of conviction until such time as any delinquent return, record, or report shall have been submitted or any false return, record, or report shall have been replaced by a duly certified correct and true return, record, or report to the satisfaction of the court. The penalties imposed by section 8 of this Act shall not be invoked for failure to comply with requirements respecting returns, records, and reports.

Sec. 8.11 Except as to violations defined in clause 3 of subsection (a) of section (5) of this Act, any person violating any provision of the convention, or of any regulation of the Commission, or of this Act, or of any regulation of the Secretary of Commerce upon conviction, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or be imprisoned not more than one year, or both. In addition the court may prohibit such person from whaling for such period of time as it may determine, and may order forfeited, in whole or in part, the whales taken by such person in whaling during the season, or the whale products derived therefrom or the monetary value thereof. Such forfeited whales or whale products shall be disposed of in accordance with the direction of the court.

Sec. 9.12 (a) Any duly authorized enforcement officer or employee of the Department of Commerce; 5 any Coast Guard officer; any United States marshal or deputy United States marshal; any customs officer; and any other person authorized to enforce the provisions of the convention, the regulations of the Commission, this Act, and the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce, shall have power, without warrant or other process but subject to the provisions of the convention, to arrest any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States committing in his presence or view a violation of the convention or of this Act, or of the regulations of the Commission, or of the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce and to take such person immediately for examination before a justice or judge or any other official designated in section 3041 of title

10 16 U.S.C. 916e. 11 16 U.S.C. 916f. 12 16 U.S.C. 916g.

18 of the United States Code; and shall have power, without warrant or other process, to search any vessel subject to the jurisdiction of the United States or land station when he has reasonable cause to believe that such vessel or land station is engaged in whaling in violation of the provisions of the convention or this Act, or the regulations of the Commission, or the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce. Any person authorized to enforce the provisions of the convention, this Act, the regulations of the Commission, or the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce shall have power to execute any warrant or process issued by an officer or court of competent jurisdiction for the enforcement of this Act, and shall have power with a search warrant to search any vessel, person, or place at any time. The judges of the United States district courts and the United States magistrates 13 may, within their respective jurisdictions, upon proper oath or affirmation showing probable cause, issue warrants in all such cases. Subject to the provisions of the convention, any person authorized to enforce the convention, this Act, the regulations of the Commission, and the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce may seize, whenever and wherever lawfully found, all whales or whale products taken, processed, or possessed contrary to the provisions of the convention, of this Act, of the regulations of the Commission, or of the regulations of the Secretary of Commerce.

Any property so seized shall not be disposed of except pursuant to the order of a court of competent jurisdiction or the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, or, if perishable, in the manner prescribed by regulations of the Secretary of Commerce.

(b) notwithstanding the provisions of section 2464 of title 28 of the United States Code, when a warrant of arrest or other process in rem is issued in any cause under this section, the marshal or other officer shall stay the execution of such process, or discharge any property seized if the process has been levied, on receiving from the claimant of the property a bond or stipulation for double the value of the property with sufficient surety to be approved by a judge of the district court having jurisdiction, conditioned to deliver the property seized, if condemned, without impairment in value or, in the discretion of the court, to pay its equivalent value in money or otherwise to answer the decree of the court in such cause. Such bond or stipulation shall be returned to the court and judgment thereon against both the principal and sureties may be recovered in event of any breach of the conditions thereof as determined by the court.

Sec. 10.14 (a) In order to avoid duplication in scientific and other programs, the Secretary of State, with the concurrence of the agency, institution, or organization concerned, may direct the United States Commissioner to arrange for the cooperation of agen

13 "United States magistrates" was substituted for "United States commissioners" pursuant to sec. 402 of Public Law 90-578 (82 Stat. 1118; Oct. 17, 1968), which provided that, within each district, references in previously enacted statutes and previously promulgated rules and regulations to United States commissioners are to be deemed, within such district, references to United States magistrates duly appointed under sec. 631 of Title 28 as soon as the first United States magistrate assumes office within that district or on Oct. 17, 1971, whichever is earlier. See Applicable Law note under sec. 631 of Title 28: Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

14 16 U.S.C. 916h.