Pro-whaling nations suffered an early setback on Monday by losing a key vote at an international whaling meeting where they are aiming to take a majority and roll back conservationist measures Members of the International Whaling Commission voted 30 to 27 to defeat a proposal offered by Japan to change voting procedures to a secret ballot.
Conservationists said it was too early to claim victory because three states - Gambia, Togo and Nauru - that recently joined the IWC and appear to side with pro-whaling members did not vote because they did not pay their dues or have yet to arrive in Ulsan in South Korea.
"We're relieved by the results, but by the end of the week, we could see some more votes that could shift this the other way," said Sue Lieberman, a director at WWF International, a leading conservation group.
The annual meeting ends on Friday in Ulsan, a former whaling port, and pro-whaling nations look to take a majority in the 66-member commission and change the direction of the body, which imposed a moratorium on hunting in 1986.
On Monday, for example, African and Caribbean nations largely supported Japan's measure, saying they wanted secret ballots to avoid pressure from conservation groups and anti-whaling states.
Australia, an anti-whaling nation, was encouraged by the vote and representatives said they may gain enough support to pass a measure that will condemn Japan for its scientific whaling.
If whaling states secure a majority they could use it to pressure the commission to change its protectionist image and return to its historic roots of regulating whaling. Such a move would be opposed by countries seeking more curbs on whaling, which they view as cruel and unnecessary.
Even so, 75 percent of votes will be needed to pass policy decisions, such as ending the moratorium on whaling, making it unlikely there will be any major changes at this summit.
"The world today will either be stepping forward into an era where conservation and the environment really matter, or it will be stepping back into the Dark Ages, where the people of the world think that slaughter of whales using grenades, electric lances and shooting them with rifles is something that we should accept," said Australian Environment Minister Ian Campbell.
JAPAN'S SHOPPING LIST: A slim majority will enable pro-whaling groups to set the agenda, close down committees - such as the IWC conservation watchdog that monitors environmental issues posing potential harm to whale stocks - and pass resolutions in favour of Japan expanding its scientific whaling programme.
Conservation groups have accused Japan and other pro-whaling nations of trying to win support by bringing developing states into the IWC with promises of aid - a charge Japan denies.
"The probability is very high that the pro-whaling bloc will be able to secure a slim majority," Lieberman said.
The IWC does not regulate Japan's scientific whaling programme, which harvests hundreds of whales a year. Most of the whale meat, a delicacy in Japan, ends up in upmarket restaurants.
A Japanese representative to the talks made clear that it would waste no time in taking advantage of a new majority.
"We have a long shopping list," Joji Morishita, an alternate commissioner of the Japanese delegation, told reporters.
But Japan might have to wait as some members have not shown up in Ulsan or cannot vote because they have not paid their dues.
The IWC was founded in 1946 to regulate whaling and protect the giant mammals that had been hunted to the edge of extinction, but the rise of environmentalism has gradually made it more protectionist in tone.
Japan proposed increasing its annual catch of minke whales from 440 to 850 and add 50 humpback and fin whales a year to its catch over the next six years. Japan will hunt 10 fins a year for the first two years and it will not hunt humpback for the next two years.
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