Impacts on whales, sharks and fish - The Great Barrier Reef: An Environmental History - page 114

Impacts on humpback whales, 1952-1962
As a result of the large migratory range of humpback whales, the animals found in the
waters of the Great Barrier Reef have been affected by historical activities outside
the boundaries of that ecosystem. In particular, the commercial humpback whale
fishery that operated from 1952-1962, based at the Tangalooma whaling station on
Moreton Island, resulted in severe depletion of the species in east Australian waters
(Paterson et al., 1994). A brief overview of the impacts of that fishery is provided
here. That account belongs in the context of the development of Australian
whaling, described for the period between 1791 and 1934 by the marine biologist,
W. J. Dakin (1934). That study indicated that an increase in Australian whaling
took place between 1800 and 1803; by 1837, the industry had developed into a
major industry, based at ports in southern Australia, including Sydney, and carried
out by companies such as the South Australian Company and Whale Products Pty
Ltd. The earliest operations of the industry were characterised by opportunistic
harvesting of whales, and whaling ships sometimes worked the waters of the Great
Barrier Reef; however, greater impacts were sustained by the whales of the Great
Barrier Reef during their southwards migrations (Jones, 1980; 2002, p87). Scarce
documentary evidence illuminates the earliest period of Australian whaling and
its impacts; in 1997, Corkeron (1997) reported that the status of cetaceans in the
GBRMP remained poorly understood.
The east Australian humpback whale fishery was created in response to an
increased demand for whale oil, following the Second World War, and in 1949 the
Australian Whaling Commission was formed to co-ordinate Australian whaling,
with the intention of generating significant exports of the produce from Australia
(Jones, 2002, p87). One company, Whale Products Pty Ltd, was established in 1950
in order to develop the fishery on the east Australian coast. On 1 January 1952,
Whale Products Pty Ltd was issued with licences to operate in Queensland coastal
waters for a period of five years; the licences permitted that company to kill and
process up to 500 humpback whales during the season extending from May until
October in each year. The Annual Report for that year by E. J. Coulter (1952,
p1012), the Queensland Chief Inspector of Fisheries, stated:
The first whale was killed on 6 June, and 600 whales were dealt with between
that date and 7 October, a permit being given to take an additional 100 whales
which had been allotted to another company which did not commence
operations.
The animals were processed at the Tangalooma whaling station and at a smaller
station in Byron Bay (Figure 8.1). The following year, the quota was increased to
700 animals, which were obtained between May and September (Coulter, 1953,
p1016).
In 1954, the quota of 600 animals was again achieved without difficulty; the
captures were made between May and September of that year. During that year,
Coulter (1954, p1005) reported: