A slim majority of nations on the International Whaling Commission (IWC) backed a resolution supporting a return to commercial whaling but lacked the 75 per cent majority needed to overturn the world 20-year ban.
The resolution, approved by a vote of 33-32 with one abstention late last night, declared that the moratorium on commercial whaling was meant to be temporary and was no longer needed.
The resolution - drafted by St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Grenada, Dominica and Antigua - was backed by the major pro-whaling nations: Norway, Iceland, Japan and the Russia.
"It's the first serious setback for those against whaling in years. It's only a matter of time before the commercial ban is overturned," said Glenn Inwood, a spokesman for the Japanese delegation.
The IWC meeting on St Kitts in the Caribbean was thrown into chaos after the vote proposed by six Caribbean nations. It was not immediately clear what impact it would have, since policy changes regarding hunting require a 75 per cent majority of the 70-member commission.
"This shows the power balance is shifting, but it really shows that both sides need to sit down, compromise and stop yelling from the trenches," said Rune Frovik, of pro-whaling group High North Alliance.
Delegates from small Caribbean and African countries said the resolution, the first of its kind since the 1986 ban, was needed to force the IWC to take up its original mandate of managing whale hunts - not banning them altogether.
They have been pushing to lift the ban as a way to protect fish stocks from whales and give their small islands food security.