the oil went abroad, mostly to Norway. Four Norwegian companies resumed catching in 1920 but quickly stopped. In 1933 the two remaining whaling stations in Lopra and Við Áir were taken over by Faroese owners. From 1977 to 1984 the whaling station Við Áir was owned and operated by the Faroese government. The buildings and the equipment of Við Áir whaling station are still in existence. The Faroese Ministry of Culture (Mentamálaráðið) recommended conservation in 2007, suggesting that the whaling station be made into a maritime museum with activities for the visitors. Twentieth century By 1900, bowhead, gray, and right whales were nearly extinct, and whaling had declined. It revived with the invention of harpoons shot from cannons, explosive tips and factory ships, which allowed distant whaling. Whaling expanded in the northern hemisphere, then in the southern hemisphere. As each species was reduced to the point where it was hard to find, whalers moved on to the next species, catching blue whales, fin whales, sperm whales, sei whales and minke whales in sequence. The League of Nations held a conference on whaling in 1927, and in 1931 27 countries signed a convention for the regulation of whaling. The convention was not enforceable, and a record ~43,000 whales were caught in 1931. In 1932, whaling companies formed a cartel, which cut harvests for two years, but then failed. A 1937 convention agreed to shorter seasons and to sparing bowhead, gray and right whales, and whales under a minimum size. Ships killed faster to harvest as many as possible in the shorter season. In 1946, 15 whaling nations formed the International Whaling Commission, with membership also open to non-whaling nations. It prohibited killing gray, humpback and right whales, limited hunting seasons, and set an Antarctic limit of 16,000 "Blue Whale Units" per year, but again had no enforcement ability. In 1949–1952 more than 2,000 humpbacks per year were harvested in the Antarctic, despite an annual quota of 1,250. In 1959–1964, there were disagreements over a moratorium on blue whales and humpbacks, with scientific advice eventually recommending a limit of 2,800 blue whale units. The IWC adopted quotas of 8,000. In 1970 the United States prohibited import of whale products by adding all commercial whales to its Endangered Species List. Proposals for 10-year moratoria were rejected in 1971, 1972 and 1974, but species quotas were adopted and reduced. Consumer boycotts focused on Japanese