3. Address of Welcome

(from "Chairman's Report of the Eighteenth Meeting")



At the opening session an address was given by the Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Mr. J.H. Hoy. Mr. Hoy said that in the course of three years the Commission had substantially reduced the Antarctic pelagic catch limit and had accepted the need for further reductions in the next two seasons which would ensure that the 1967/68 catch would be below the scientifically assessed maximum sustainable yields of the fin and sei stocks. Thus after many years the Commission was now in sight of the objective of the 1946 Convention. There were still many problems but the actions taken in the last few years encouraged him to believe that members of the Commission would not lack the resolution to deal with them.

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