Japan to abandon humpback hunt this summer
Updated
The Chairman of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) says he has convinced Japan to abandon its plans to hunt 50 humpback whales this summer.
The IWC's Bill Hogarth says Japan's fisheries authority has agreed to put off the hunt until after 2009.
He says the the humpback whales issue had the potential to split an already deeply-divided commission.
Speaking on the eve of the IWC conference in Santiago, Mr Hogarth called on all sides to work on finding common ground.
"I think that's the first thing, to realise that you do have problems," he said.
"So I think, first off, put those issues forward for the sake of the whales and, you know, we need to do this and I sense that, that all countries are willing to.
"Is it going to be easy? Heck no. It's not going to be easy. It's the best opportunity we have and if we don't seize this opportunity I'm not really sure what will happen."
Japan kills some 1,000 whales a year using a loophole in the IWC moratorium on commercial whaling that allows "lethal research" on the ocean giants.
Norway and Iceland defy the moratorium altogether.
