However, Japan faced a fresh wave of criticism after it confirmed it planned to add two new whale species to its research hunting program, raising the heckles of conservationists and those who fear that the whale population is dwindling too quickly. Japan caught more than 500 minke whales in 1999 for what it says were scientific purposes and plans to add 50 Bryde's whales and 10 sperm whales to its new research hunting program. It and Norway, which plans to kill 655 minkes this year, are pushing also for a resumption of commercial whaling. New Rules for Hunting Most members the IWC agreed to a 12-month framework to draft procedural rules under which commercial whaling would take place if and when the moratorium was lifted. The compromise reached at the IWC annual meeting in Adelaide was a bid to end a decade of conflict over the rules for any future resumption of whaling, amid growing concern about the commission's future role as a regulatory body.
Scientists can sometimes identify individual whales by their tail markings.
The rules of the so-called revised management scheme would not cover quotas, but would spell out inspection and monitoring procedures for future commercial whaling. Anti-whaling countries and groups want the rules to also cover killing methods, domestic market inspections, and wider environmental issues. As far as we're concerned, the procedure agreed today is a framework for discussion, it doesn't actually fast-track it. Environmental groups said they were disappointed with the decision, warning that the new alignment of moderate nations was splitting the IWC's anti-whaling block. But Campaign Whale spokesman Ottaway said Japan and Norway still faced major hurdles and opposition from staunch anti-whaling nations.