The International Whaling Commission begins its meeting in Alaska today with an attempt led by Japan to end the world moratorium on whale hunting which has been in effect since 1986.
While the ban is still supported by a majority of countries, including Ireland, attempts to overturn it have been gaining support.
The commission has 75 members and for the past 11 years has maintained a moratorium on hunting whales, though a number of countries have got around the ban.
Japan permits the killing of 1,000 whales a year, claiming it is for research purposes, although the whale meat is sold commercially.
Norway has allowed the hunting of minke whales since 1993 and Iceland resumed commercial whaling last year in defiance of the ban.
Last year Japan just failed to reach the necessary three-quarters majority to overturn the ban. Since then it has been accused of giving loans to a number of countries to back its campaign.
However, this week's meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, may not resolve anything; a bigger test could be ahead next November when Japan has threatened to go ahead with plans for the largest hunting of humpback whales since the 1986 ban was imposed.
