Whales for Margarine: Commodification and Neoliberal Nature in the Antarctic

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Notes

¹Statistics compiled from International Whaling Statistics, 30, 1953.

²James McCarthy and Scott Prudham, “Neoliberal Nature and the Nature of Neoliberalism,” Geoforum, Vol. 35, No. 3, May 2004, pp. 275–283.

³James O'Connor, “Capitalism, Nature, Socialism: A Theoretical Introduction,” Capitalism Nature Socialism, No. 1, Fall, 1988, pp. 11–37.

⁵Murray Bookchin, “What is Social Ecology?,” in Peter List (ed.), Radical Environmentalism: Philosophy and Tactics (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1993), p. 93.

⁴John Gray, False Dawn: The Delusions of Global Capitalism (New York: New Press, 1998), p. 5.

⁶Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 57.

⁷Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 178.

⁸Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 42.

⁹Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 42.

¹⁰Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 42.

¹¹Karl Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), p. 132.

¹²Patricia Martin, “Mexico's Neoliberal Transition,” in Helga Leitner, Jamie Peck and Eric Shepard (eds.), Contesting Neoliberalism: Urban Frontiers (New York: The Guilford Press, 2007), p. 58.

¹³John G. Ruggie, Constructing the World Polity: Essays on International Institutionalization (New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 67.

¹⁴Robert Brenner, “The Economics of Global Turbulence: A Special Report on the World Economy, 1950–98,” New Left Review, 229, May/June 1998.

¹⁵David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 76.

¹⁶See G.A. Knox, “Antarctic Marine Ecosystems” and Joel Hedgpeth, “Marine Biogeography of the Antarctic Regions,” both in M.W. Holdgate (ed.), Antarctic Ecology (New York: Academic Press, 1970) and Sayed Z. El-Sayed, “Biology of the Southern Ocean,” Oceanus, Vol. 18, No. 4, 1975, pp. 40–49.

¹⁷James Jenkins, Whales and Modern Whaling (London: H.F. and G. Witherby, 1932), p. 5.

¹⁸H.K. Salvesen, “Modern Whaling in the Antarctic,” Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol 81, March 1933, pp. 408–429. Of course, he was quite provincial in understanding the role of such regulation in protecting his investment. As he noted in the same address, “The days of the suppression of the slave trade are long gone. Nor was it in the power of the existing whaling companies [to keep new entrants out]. If only we could have stopped others poaching on our preserves!” P. 420, italics mine.

¹⁹See for example, Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 35, November 1946, p. 277.

²⁰See International Whaling Statistics, Vol. 17, “International Whaling Conference January 4, 13, 19, 31, 1944, London,” 1947, pp. 52–57.

²¹J.N. Tonnessen and A.O. Johnsen, The History of Modern Whaling (Berkeley: C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, Ltd., 1982), p. 491.

²²Johan T. Ruud, “International Regulation of Whaling: A Critical Survey,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 45, July 1956, p. 379.

²³See “The International Whaling Conference Washington, D.C., November 20-December 2, 1946,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 36, January 1947, pp. 5–23 and “The International Whaling Conference Washington D.C., November 20-December 2, 1946,” International Whaling Statistics, Vol. 18, March 1948, pp. 27–53.

²⁴United Nations, Treaty Series: Treaties and International Agreements Registered or Filed and Recorded with the Secretariat of the United Nations, Vol. 161 (New York: United Nations, 1953), pp. 72–82. The text of the convention can also be accessed at: http://www.iwcoffice.org/Convention.htm.

²⁵ Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 36, June 1947, p. 209.

²⁶“Provisional Survey of the Catch Results in the Antarctic Season 1948/49,”NHT, 38, August 1949, pp. 334–348 and International Whaling Statistics, Vol. 18. 1 long ton = 6 barrels.

²⁷This was the first annual meeting of the IWC, an event that has been repeated every year since in various locations around the world. Though not discussed in this paper, the IWC deals with such wide-ranging topics as indigenous whale hunting and the capture of small cetaceans, including dolphins and porpoises. Readers interested in the detailed history of the organization are directed to the annual Report of the Commission, published by the IWC since 1949. Specific issues of the Norwegian Whaling Gazette and International Whaling Statistics also provide coverage of the meetings. The activities and actions of each meeting are also conveniently summarized in Patricia Birnie, International Regulation of Whaling (New York: Oceana Publications, Inc., 1984).

²⁸ The New York Times, for example, dedicated a brief article to the meeting at its conclusion.

²⁹On the London meeting, see “The IWC: First Meeting in London,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 38, October 1949, pp. 429–445 and “IWC: Report by the Chairman of the First Meeting,” in the same publication, pp. 446–455.

³⁰See David Day, The Whale War (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1987), p. 33.

³¹For a full account of the effort against the Humpbacks, see the compiled statistics in International Whaling Statistics Vol. 20–25. After a number of experiments in regulating the Humpbacks in the 1950s, which brought the species closer to disaster, the IWC once again granted the species protected status in 1966.

³²“The Second IWC Meeting in Oslo 17–21 July 1950: Report from A.T.A. Dobson,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette Yearbook 1950, 1951, p. 111.

³³Berger Bergerson, “The International Whaling Convention,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 41, November 1952, pp. 593–602.

³⁴The International Whaling Statistics provide a detailed record of both catch statistics and oil production. The Annual Report of the International Whaling Commission also provides summarized accounts of this data.

³⁵See for example “Antarctic Operations,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 41, March 1952, pp. 103–109.

³⁶The meetings were most often held in June, in order to gather the requisite data from the previous season and provide for stock assessment. This also permitted the whaling companies with adequate time to refit and plan for the upcoming season.

³⁷A logical solution to this dilemma would have been to reduce the number of catcher boats. While the IWC made repeated attempts to address the problem, no comprehensive and effective compromise could be achieved, because it was clear that any free-riders would gain a distinct advantage.

³⁸“International Whaling Commission Second Meeting in Oslo” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 39, 1950, pp. 109–121.

³⁹The British Ministry of Food, for example, only lifted its controls on edible oils in 1954. See Wray Vamplew, Salvesen of Leith (Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1975), p. 245.

⁴⁰The Norwegian Whaling Gazette generally provided adequate coverage of the world market conditions and prices for whale oil. More detailed analysis of the fats and oils market can be found in Annual Review of the Oilseeds, Oils and Oilcakes published annually 1923–82 by Frank Fehr and Company, London. A useful summary of whale oil prices in the 20^th century is found in the appendix to Tonnesen and Johnsen.

⁴¹Another deep flaw of the scheme was not even known until well after severe damage had occurred. In the early 1960s, British researcher D.T. Crisp demonstrated that the BWU was completely inaccurate in terms of the actual comparative value of each species of whale. Thus, throughout its history the IWC had used a flawed measure as one of its premier regulatory tools. See D.T. Crisp, “The Tonnages of Whales Taken by Antarctic Pelagic Operations during Twenty Seasons: An Examination of the BWU,” NHT, 51, October 1962, pp. 389–95.

⁴²“Statement of Active Whaling Men Concerning the Last Antarctic Season,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 43, June 1954, p. 220.

⁴³The London Protocol of 1938, for example, involved a backing down of length requirements for the Blue whale from 70 to 65 feet, for Fin whales from 55 to 50 feet, and from 35 down to 30 feet for Sperm whales, a modification aimed at placating whalers, especially the Japanese. See Tonnesen and Johnsen, op. cit., p. 461.

⁴⁴See International Whaling Commission, “Annual Report of the Commission, 18^th Report,” London, 1968.

⁴⁵For more on this case as well as other violations suspected by the IWC, see the report of the scientific committee in International Whaling Commission, “Annual Report of the Commission, 16^th Report,” London, 1964, and other scientific committee reports.

⁴⁶See for example, E.J. Slijper, “Ten years of Whale Research,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 48, March 1959, pp. 117–127.

⁴⁷For the details of the quota arrangements, see “International Quota Agreements,” Norwegian Whaling Gazette, Vol. 51, December 1962, pp. 461–465.

⁴⁸International Whaling Commission, Annual Reports of the Commission, 34^th Report, London, 1983.

⁴⁹Complete information on contemporary whaling is available online at: http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/permits.htm.

⁵⁰Current population estimates for all species can be found at online at: http://www.iwcoffice.org/conservation/estimate.htm.

⁵¹Greenpeace Reports Theft of Whale Meat by Whaling Crews,” Environmental News Service, May 19, 2008, online at: http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2008/2008-05-19-01.asp.

⁵²See Menachem Ben-Yami, “Fisheries Management: Hijacked by Neoliberal Economics,” Samudra Report, Vol. 35, July 2003.

⁵³ Darwin't Nightmare is a documentary released in 2004 about the devastation wrought to Lake Victoria and the communities that surround it by the introduction in the 1960s of the Nile Perch, a voracious predator that wiped out most of the native fish in the lake. The Nile Perch is mainly exported to Europe and is traded for weapons that fuel countless armed conflicts in Africa.

⁵⁴George Kent, “Fisheries, Food Security and the Poor,” Food Policy, Vol. 22, No. 5, pp. 393–404.

⁵⁵A positive endorsement of such practices is found in Rögnvldur Hannesson, The Privatization of the Oceans (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004); Becky Mansfield, “Neoliberalism in the Oceans: ‘Rationalization,’ Property Rights and the Commons Question,” Geoforum, Vol. 35, No. 3, May 2004, pp. 313–326, provides a useful counterpoint.

⁵⁶On the contemporary status of global fisheries, see FAO Fisheries Department, “Review of the State of World Marine Fishery Resources FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 457,” Rome, 2005.

⁵⁷See Jeremy B.C. Jackson, “What Was Natural in the Coastal Oceans?,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 98, No. 10, 2001, pp. 5411–5418; See also Daniel Pauly, Villy Christensen, Johanne Dalsgaard, Rainier Froese, Francisco Torres, “Fishing Down Marine Food Webs,” Science, Vol. 279, No. 5352, February 6, 1998, pp. 860–863.

⁵⁸Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell, Globalization and the Race for Resources (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005).

⁵⁹Stephen G. Bunker and Paul S. Ciccantell, Globalization and the Race for Resources (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005). , p. 234.

⁶⁰John Dryzek, Democracy in Capitalist Times: Ideals, Limits and Struggles (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 145.

⁶¹See, for example the symposia “Socialism and Ecology,” especially Arran Gare, “The Environmental Record of the Soviet Union” in Capitalism Nature Socialism, Vol. 13, No. 3, September 2002; Philip R. Pryde Environmental Management in the Soviet Union (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).

⁶²Nico Poulantzas, State, Power, Socialism (London: Verso, 1978).

⁶³On Soviet fishing see, generally, N.P. Sysoev, Economics of the Soviet Fishing Industry (Springfield, VA: Israel Program for Scientific Translations, 1974); for operational details and an indictment of Soviet practices by a former captain see Vadil Lysenko, A Crime Against the World (London: Victor Gollancz, 1983).

⁶⁴Fareed Zakaria, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2004), p. 248.

⁶⁵Karl Polanyi, “Our Obsolete Market Mentality,” in George Dalton (ed.), Primitive, Archaic and Modern Economies: Essays of Karl Polanyi (New York: Beacon Press, 1968), p. 76.