Tokyo however set a controversial course for a return to commercial whaling, a day after the IWC passed a resolution by a single vote, declaring a two-decades-old moratorium on for-profit hunts was no longer necessary.

And there was a new skirmish in the long running propaganda war between Japan and Greenpeace, over a collision between one of the iconic group's ships and a Japanese whaling vessel in the frigid Southern Ocean.

On the first day of what Japan hopes will be a new era for the polarized IWC, controlled by anti-whaling states for the last two decades, Japanese officials welcomed 37 IWC members to a special meeting to discuss reform plans.

The focus of the lunchtime session - outside IWC auspices - was restoring what Japan sees as the body's original 1946 mandate - regulating sustainable hunting.

"We are not trying to exclude, or separate, or divide this organisation," said Joji Morishita, Japan's IWC alternate commissioner, at the talks in a dimly lit nightclub in the luxury Caribbean resort hosting IWC annual meetings.

Most of those present were members of the pro-whaling bloc. Australia, New Zealand, and Britain, which are vehemently anti-whaling, also attended but did not intervene.

Japan called the meeting to discuss a date and venue for three days of formal talks - outside the IWC and before its next annual meeting in Alaska - for nations that support its reform drive, a process Tokyo calls "normalisation."

Sunday's vote confirmed the worst fears of environmentalists, who believe Japan wants to stifle conservation efforts on the commission, slaughter more whales and chip away at the moratorium.

Despite Sunday's vote, the moratorium, enforced in 1986 as one of the environmental movement's proudest achievements, is not in immediate danger, as it needs a currently unobtainable 75 percent majority to be overturned.

As IWC members digested Sunday's events, Greenpeace and Japan filled the vacuum with a new spat.

A US intervention headed off a Japanese proposal which could have seen Greenpeace stripped of observer status at the body's annual meetings.

The row erupted over a collision involving a Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise, and a Japanese whaler in the Southern Ocean on January 8. Each side blames the other for the incident.

In the end, the IWC adopted a general resolution, which did not assign blame for the incident, or mention Greenpeace, but did made clear it did not "condone" dangerous protests at sea.

But feelings did not remain smoothed over for long.

Japan's Fisheries Agency issued a news release announcing that Greenpeace, which it described as a "publicity group," was "criticized" by the IWC resolution, adding that the Greenpeace ship "rammed" Japan's Nisshin Maru.

The release drew an immediate and angry response from Greenpeace.

"This is not even an interpretation of what happened, but pure fabrication," said Greenpeace spokesman Mike Townsley, adding that the IWC had not taken a view on who was to blame for the clash.

"People are innocent until proven guilty," Townsley said, adding the news release was a "cheap trick and an outrageous lie. In fact the consensus simply called for safety at sea from all sides involved."

Sunday's resolution said that the moratorium on commercial hunting "which was clearly intended as a temporary measure is no longer necessary."

Known as the St Kitts and Nevis declaration, it passed by 33 to 32 votes with one abstention.

Japan abides by the moratorium, but conducts some "research" whaling through what opponents say is a loophole in the IWC charter, as does Iceland.

Norway ignores the moratorium all together. Around 2,000 whales are taken a year by the three nations.

The IWC annual meeting ends on Tuesday.

Related Links
International Whaling Commission