The thirty-first annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was held in London, 9–14 July 1979, under the chairmanship of T. Asgeirsson (Iceland). Since June 1978, five countries joined the commission, Chile, Republic of Korea, Peru, Seychelles and Spain, and attended the annual meeting for the first time as members. Sweden which had rejoined the commission, was last represented at the fifteenth meeting in 1963. There are now 23 member nations, of which 10 are at present engaged in commercial whaling. Commissioners from all member countries were present, together with observers from six non-member governments, FAO, UNEP, international scientific bodies and conservation and animal welfare organizations