Landmarks

• 1946: The International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) was agreed to.

• Early 1950s: Warnings from scientists in the early 1950s that catch quotas were excessive. But the decimation of several great whale stocks by pelagic fleets continued in the Antarctic.

• Late 1960s: The IWC belatedly started to pay respect to its own Scientific Committee, and in about 1970 actually started to set quotas in accordance with their advice.

• 1965: A former IWC Commissioner for the US wrote: "The turning point came in 1965, when for the first time in history the Commission agreed to establish a catch limit in the Antarctic lower than the best scientific estimate of sustainable yield" (McHugh, 1974).

• 1974: The IWC introduces its New Management Procedure to ensure that any whaling operations that continued were sustainable. Even though this model was a major step forward, it had several weak points. Nevertheless, it can be said that after the introduction of the New Management Procedure, whaling carried out in accordance with the IWC management regime was generally sustainable.

• 1982: The Commission nevertheless decided to implement a blanket moratorium on commercial whaling, which has been in effect since 1986.

• 1994: The IWC decides to establish a Southern Ocean Sanctuary, an area where whaling is prohibited.

• 1997: The IWC adopted a decision that allows the Makah Indian Tribe in Washington State, USA, to take 4 grey whales annually as aboriginal subsistence whaling.