Commercial Whaling - An overview and how you can get involved.
Posting by Tammy Silva, NECWA intern. Commercial whaling first began in the 17 th century. The hunt for whales reached its peak in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, leading to the decimation of whale populations world-wide . New England is richly steeped in the whaling industry and her traditions. The nearby city of New Bedford, MA was once known as the whaling capital of the world; in fact, in the mid 1800s over half of the whaling ships in the world called New Bedford their home port. Provincetown, MA was the second largest whaling port for at one time over 170 whaling ships departed from its well protected harbor. As whale population continued to decline, it was clear that the whaling industry needed some sort of regulation or oversight. In 1946, an international agreement (the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling) established the International Whaling Commission (IWC) . The IWC is an international body whose main purpose is to govern whaling througho...
