In order to safeguard the stock of whales in northern seas, special regulations for Svalbard have been proposed by the Norwegian Government. These regulations forbid both Norwegian and foreign subjects to use a land station for the taking and treatment of whales in Svalbard and Jan Mayen. They follow the international agreements of 1937 and 1938 which provide for the closing of the Northern Hemisphere for pelagic baleen whaling and restriction of the activity of land stations to six months of the year.