japan is pressing for a resumption of commercial whaling

It is likely that only the pro-whaling members of the IWC will attend that February meeting - reports suggest that several countries opposed to the practice may boycott the assembly.

Several Caricom countries are among the pro-whaling nations in the IWC, and are known to receive Japanese aid for their fisheries industries.

Overhaul

St Kitts & Nevis, one of the IWC members which supports Japan's campaign for the lifting of the moratorium, says it has received an invitation to next month's meeting.

The country's Fisheries Minister Cedric Liburd told BBC Caribbean that they intended to be present.

St Kitts & Nevis hosted last year's annual general meeting of the IWC.

Mr Liburd agrees with Japan that the IWC needs overhauling.

"When you look at the issues and the decisions that are taken at IWC, it (the IWC) has to be reviewed," he said.

"Every country goes there trying to separate themselves from another and so forth and it is not good for the future of the IWC."

Doubtful future

Observers say the absence of anti-whaling nations from next month's meeting could leave the future of the world body in doubt.

Japan and other pro-whaling nations have long argued that the fractious IWC is no longer functional and Tokyo offered last year to host a first-ever gathering to, in its words, "normalise" the group.

Invitations were issued to all 72 IWC members, but so far only a handful of anti-whaling nations have said they will attend.

Already Australia and 25 other IWC members opposed to whaling have agreed to boycott the meeting.

Every country goes there trying to separate themselves from another.   Cedric Liburd, St Kitts Nevis Fisheries Minister

The International Whaling Commission is bitterly divided between countries that think whales still need to be protected, and those that argue that some species are sufficiently abundant to be hunted again.

Japan leads the pro-whaling bloc and has gathered powerful support from African, Pacific and Caribbean nations.

The Japanese have killed thousands of whales since 1986 under a scientific whaling programme.
Anti-whaling countries that criticise the Asian country's whale hunting include Australia, Britain and New Zealand.

UK pressure

Meanwhile the UK is stepping up attempts to secure an anti-whaling majority on the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

	Japan is counting on the support of Caribbean and other pro-whaling nations

Last year, pro-hunting nations gained their first IWC majority for 20 years.

The British government will publish a brochure this coming week aimed at encouraging nations opposed to whaling to join the Commission.

It says whales are "sensitive, social creatures", with some species risking extinction. Japan says these arguments are "old rhetoric and half-truths".

Japan, Iceland and Norway, the principal pro-whaling nations, believe that many stocks are large enough that hunting can be sustainable.

They dismiss arguments that whales are special and distinct creatures as being relevant only in certain cultures.

The UK's recruitment brochure, which will be officially launched next week, is the most formalised attempt yet mounted by anti-whaling countries to regain the majority which they lost by a single vote at last year's IWC meeting, held in St Kitts.

IWC votes are unpredictable, and the British government's recruitment brochure indicates its intention of securing forces which can reliably out-vote Japan, Norway, Iceland and their allies.