Japan yesterday held talks with dozens of countries to plot the future of the global whaling body, but most Western states boycotted the meeting as a charade aimed at resuming commercial hunting.

The three-day meeting kicked off to a small protest by environmentalists, who accused the delegates of being bought off by Japanese money.

Japan invited all 72 members of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to take part but, in a sign it is nearly split down the middle, 34 countries showed up.

Japan, which says that whale meat is part of its culture, kills more than 1,000 whales a year using a loophole in a global moratorium meant to protect the giant sea creatures.

Tokyo called the meeting to "normalize" the IWC which it believes is supposed to manage whale hunting rather than ban it, but said it had sought to hear from those on both sides of the debate.

Australia, Britain and the United States are among the whaling opponents shunning the Tokyo conference.

"Many countries in the IWC agree that it needs to be reformed, but not in the way that Japan has presented. Japan is recruiting countries with money," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan's campaign chief.

"This meeting is not about normalization, it's about commercialization," he said.

(China Daily via agencies February 14, 2007)