They sat around a big table and smoked cigars, they had drinks in the bar and compared profits and talked of the good old days when the vast herds of great Blue whales made life easy. Then they sat down at that table and bargained until they agreed among themselves what the sporting numbers of whales to be bagged that year would be. Like some exclusive big-game shooting club, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) set it's own quotas and made it's own rules. A kind of 'gentleman's agreement' between nations.

Governing Bodies/Rules/Regulations

International Whaling Commission

• International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (2 Dec, 1946) [37k]
• Schedule as amended at the 65th Annual Meeting 2014 [732k]


• 2013 - 65th Annual General Meeting
• 65th Annual General Meeting End [349k]


• 2012 - 64th Annual General Meeting
• 64th AGM Final Press Release [159k]
• 64th IWC Annual Report [2.9mb]
• Report on the 64th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [2.6mb]


• 2011 - 63rd Annual General Meeting
• 63rd AGM Final Press Release [651]
• 63rd IWC Annual Report [10.1mb]
• Report on the 63rd AGM Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 from the International Marine Mammal Project
• Report on the 63rd AGM from the Sea Shepherd Society


• 2010 - 62nd Annual General Meeting
• 62nd IWC Annual Report [98mb]
• Report on the 62nd AGM Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 from the International Marine Mammal Project


• 2009 - 61st Annual General Meeting
• 61st IWC Annual Report [7.9mb]
• Report on the 61st AGM No.1 - No.2 - No.3 - No.4 from the International Marine Mammal Project


• 2008 - 60th Annual General Meeting
• 60th IWC Annual Report [6.7mb]
• Report on the 60th AGM No.1 [374k] No.2 [230k] No.3 [170k] No.4 [202k] No.5 [84k] from the International Marine Mammal Project


• 2007 - 59th Annual General Meeting
• 59th IWC Annual Report [8.7mb]
• Report on the 59th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [462k]
• Report on the 59th AGM from the Sea Shepherd Society


• 2006 - 58th Annual General Meeting
• 58th AGM Daily Press Releases
• 58th IWC Annual Report [16.6mb]
• Report on the 58th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [433k]


• 2005 - 57th Annual General Meeting
• 57th AGM Daily Press Releases
• 57th IWC Annual Report [118mb]
• Report on the 57th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [328k]
• Report on the 57th AGM from the Sea Shepherd Society


• 2004 - 56th Annual General Meeting
• 56th AGM Final Press Release
• 56th IWC Annual Report [6.2mb]
• Report on the 56th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [170k]
• 56th Annual Meeting Report from the Australian Antarctic Division


• 2003 - 55th Annual General Meeting
• 55th AGM Final Press Release
• 55th IWC Annual Report [14.4mb]
• Report on the 55th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [110k]
• Report on the Whale Killing Methods Workshop from Andy Ottaway for the Global Whale Alliance


• 2002 - 54th Annual General Meeting
  • 54th AGM Final Press Release
  • 54th IWC Annual Report [9.3mb]
  • MAFF Update on IWC54 from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
  • Notes on the 54th AGM from Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society
  • Report on the 54th AGM from the International Marine Mammal Project [204k]
  • Report on the IWC Cambridge Special Meeting from Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society
  • 54th Draft Agenda Plenary Meeting 20th - 24th May, 2002 [560k]
  • 54rd Draft Scientific Committee Meeting 27th April - 9th May, 2002 [290k]
  
  
• 2001 - 53rd Annual General Meeting
• 53rd AGM Final Press Release
• 53rd IWC Annual Report [6.1mb]


• 2000 - 52nd Annual General Meeting
• 52nd AGM Final Press Release
• 52nd IWC Annual Report [6.7mb]
• 52nd AGM Resolutions [85k]
• Notes on the 52nd AGM from Paul Spong, Orcalab
• MAFF Update on IWC52 from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries


• 1999 - 51st Annual General Meeting
• 51st AGM Final Press Release
• 51st IWC Annual Report [11.5mb]
• 51st AGM Resolutions
• 51st AGM Report by Katie Gray, Cetacean Society International's IWC Representative
• Notes on the 51st AGM from Paul Spong & Ben White


• 1998 - 50th Annual General Meeting
• 50th AGM Final Press Release
• 50th IWC Annual Report [5mb]
• Notes on the 50th AGM from Paul Spong, Orcalab
• 50th AGM Report from Eco Newsletter
• 50th AGM Report from Cetacean Society International


• 1997 - 49th Annual General Meeting
• 49th AGM Final Press Release
• 49th AGM Report 'The Turmoil Continues' by Kate O'Connell, Cetacean Society International
• 49th AGM Report from the WWF


• 1996 - 48th Annual General Meeting
• 48th AGM Final Press Release
• 48th AGM Report by Paul Hodda, Australian Whale Conservation Society
• 48th AGM Report by Kate O'Connell, Board Member, Cetacean Society International
• 48th IWC Meeting Wrap-Up from William Rossiter, Great Whales Foundation


• 1995 - 47th Annual General Meeting
  • 47th AGM Final Press Release
  • 47th AGM Report by Carole Carlson, Ph.D., Cetacean Society International
  • 47th AGM Report by John Frizell, Greenpeace
  
  
• 1994 - 46th Annual General Meeting
• 46th AGM Final Press Release

International

• Agreements for the Establishment of a General Fisheries Council for the Mediterranean (24 Sept 49)
• United Nations Law of the Sea (10 Dec 82)
• Introduction
• Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone
• Straits Used for International Navigation
• Archipelagic States
• Exclusive Economic Zone
• Continental Shelf
• The High Seas
• Regime of islands
• Draft Resolution and Draft Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 [1.2mb]
• Agreement Relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 (A/RES/48/263)
• Convention on the High Seas (29 Apr 58) [65kb]
• Convention on Fishing & Conservation of Living Resources of the High Seas (29 Apr 58)
• Convention on the Continental Shelf (29 Apr 58)
• Optional Protocol concerning the Compulsory Settlement of Disputes (29 Apr 58)
• The Antarctic Treaty (15 Oct 59) [1.6mb]
• Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (4 Oct 91) [59k]
• 25th Anniversary of the Adoption of the Antarctic treaty (4 Oct 16) [640k]
• Fisheries Convention (9 Mar 64)
• International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (14 May 66)
• Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (11 Feb 72)
• Convention on the Conservation of Birds (18 Oct 50)
• BH954 - Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South Pacific (and Protocols) [1.9mb]