§ 916. — Definitions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC916]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 14--REGULATION OF WHALING
SUBCHAPTER II--WHALING CONVENTION ACT
Sec. 916. Definitions
When used in this subchapter--
(a) Convention: The word ``convention'' means the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington under date
of December 2, 1946, by the United States of America and certain other
governments.
(b) Commission: The word ``Commission'' means the International
Whaling Commission established by article III of the convention.
(c) United States Commissioner: The words ``United States
Commissioner'' mean the member of the International Whaling Commission
representing the United States of America appointed pursuant to article
III of the convention and section 916a of this title.
(d) Person: The word ``person'' denotes every individual,
partnership, corporation, and association subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States.
(e) Vessel: The word ``vessel'' denotes every kind, type, or
description of water craft or contrivance subject to the jurisdiction of
the United States used, or capable of being used, as a means of
transportation.
(f) Factory ship: The words ``factory ship'' mean a vessel in which
or on which whales are treated or processed, whether wholly or in part.
(g) Land station: The words ``land station'' mean a factory on the
land at which whales are treated or processed, whether wholly or in
part.
(h) Whale catcher: The words ``whale catcher'' mean a vessel used
for the purpose of hunting, killing, taking, towing, holding onto, or
scouting for whales.
(i) Whale products: The words ``whale products'' mean any
unprocessed part of a whale and blubber, meat, bones, whale oil, sperm
oil, spermaceti, meal, and baleen.
(j) Whaling: The word ``whaling'' means the scouting for, hunting,
killing, taking, towing, holding onto, and flensing of whales, and the
possession, treatment, or processing of whales or of whale products.
(k) Regulations of the Commission: The words ``regulations of the
Commission'' mean the whaling regulations in the schedule annexed to and
constituting a part of the convention in their original form or as
modified, revised, or amended by the Commission from time to time, in
pursuance of article V of the convention.
(l) Regulations of the Secretary of Commerce: The words
``regulations of the Secretary of Commerce'' mean such regulations as
may be issued by the Secretary of Commerce, from time to time, in
accordance with sections 916i and 916j of this title.
(Aug. 9, 1950, ch. 653, Sec. 2, 64 Stat. 421; 1970 Reorg. Plan No. 4,
eff. Oct. 3, 1970, 35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090.)
Short Title
Section 1 of act Aug. 9, 1950, provided: ``That this Act [enacting
this subchapter] may be cited as the `Whaling Convention Act of 1949'.''
Separability
Section 15 of act Aug. 9, 1950, provided that: ``If any provision of
this Act [this subchapter] or the application of such provisions to any
circumstances or persons shall be held invalid, the validity of the
remainder of the Act and the applicability of such provision to other
circumstances or persons shall not be affected thereby.''
Transfer of Functions
In subsec. (l), ``Secretary of Commerce'' substituted for
``Secretary of the Interior'' in view of: creation of National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration in Department of Commerce and Office of
Administrator of such Administration; abolition of Bureau of Commercial
Fisheries in Department of the Interior and Office of Director of such
Bureau; transfers of functions, including functions formerly vested by
law in Secretary of the Interior or Department of the Interior which
were administered through Bureau of Commercial Fisheries or were
primarily related to such Bureau, exclusive of certain enumerated
functions with respect to Great Lakes fishery research, Missouri River
Reservoir research, Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory, and Trans-Alaska
pipeline investigations; and transfer of marine sport fish program of
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife by Reorg. Plan No. 4 of 1970,
eff. Oct. 3, 1970, 35 F.R. 15627, 84 Stat. 2090, set out in the Appendix
to Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
Wildlife Sanctuary for Humpback Whales in West Indies
Pub. L. 99-630, Nov. 7, 1986, 100 Stat. 3514, provided: ``That the
President shall, in concert with the International Whaling Commission,
seek a treaty or other appropriate international agreement establishing
a wildlife sanctuary for humpback whales in the West Indies, in the area
encompassing the Turks Islands, Mouchoir Passage, Silver Bank Passage,
Navidad Bank, and such additional areas in the West Indies as may be
necessary to ensure the protection of the breeding grounds of the
humpback whales.''
Moratorium on Commercial Killing of Whales
Pub. L. 96-60, title IV, Sec. 405, Aug. 15, 1979, 93 Stat. 403,
provided that:
``(a) The Congress finds and declares that--
``(1) whales are a unique marine resource of great esthetic and
scientific interest to mankind and are a vital part of the marine
ecosystem;
``(2) the protection and conservation of whales are of
particular interest to citizens of the United States;
``(3) in 1971 the Congress adopted resolutions requesting the
Secretary of State to negotiate a ten-year moratorium on the
commercial killing of whales;
``(4) the United States, which effectively banned all commercial
whaling by United States nationals in December 1971, has sought an
international moratorium on the commercial killing of whales since
1972;
``(5) the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment
adopted a resolution in 1972 calling for a ten-year moratorium on
commercial whaling;
``(6) the United Nations Governing Council for Environment
Programs in 1973 and 1974 confirmed such call for a ten-year
moratorium, and the Council continues to support ongoing efforts
relating to whale conservation;
``(7) the International Convention for the Regulation of
Whaling, signed in 1946, as implemented by the International Whaling
Commission, is not providing adequate protection to whales;
``(8) the data-gathering structure established under the
International Whaling Commission has not provided all the available
data necessary for sound whale conservation;
``(9) there is strong evidence that the members of the
International Whaling Commission continue to import, in some
instances in increasing amounts, whale products from countries not
members of the Commission; and
``(10) defects in the implementation of the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling by the International
Whaling Commission allow harvests of the declining whale species.
``(b) The Congress urges--
``(1) the International Whaling Commission to agree to a
moratorium on the commercial killing of whales; and
``(2) Brazil, Denmark, Iceland, Japan, Norway, the Soviet Union,
and the Republic of Korea, as parties to the International
Convention for the Regulation of Whaling and which still engage in
commercial whaling, and Chile, the People's Republic of China, Peru,
Portugal, the Democratic Republic of Korea, Spain, and Taiwan, as
countries which are not parties to the Convention and which still
engage in commercial whaling, to recognize and comply voluntarily
with a moratorium on the commercial killing of whales, as endorsed
by the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment and the
United Nations Governing Council for Environment Programs.''
