Halt proposed to ban on whaling

Japan, Norway and Iceland continued whaling under those exceptions. The proposal released late on Thursday night would replace the ban with strict quotas and would let the group strictly monitor all whaling.

The proposal is an attempted compromise between whaling nations and others such as the USA and Australia, which have long been staunchly opposed to whaling.

The commission argues that allowing whaling under strict quotas would be an improvement to the current hunts, over which it has no control.

The proposal allows 400 minke whales to be hunted in the Antarctic each year for five years, then lowers that limit to 200 for the next five years. It also allows limited hunts of other species, including fin, bowhead and grey whales in specific regions.

Environmental groups were quick to criticise the proposal, which they say could lead to an eventual return to the large-scale whaling of the past,.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the proposals did not deliver what New Zealand wants – that it must be significantly better than the status quo and meet the country's commitment to end whaling in the southern ocean.

Greenpeace New Zealand executive director Bunny McDiarmid condemned the plan.

"If it doesn't lead to an end of whaling, particularly of commercial whaling and whaling in the southern ocean whale sanctuary, it's not good enough," Ms McDiarmid said.

The commission is preparing for a general meeting in June, on which it will debate and vote on the proposal. In February, an earlier proposal included a return to commercial whaling, but had few specifics.

The three main whaling nations, Japan, Norway and Iceland, annually kill about 3,000 whales, 10 times as many as in 1993.