Commercial whaling could return after 24-year ban

Small-scale commercial whaling could return after a 24-year global moratorium as part of a compromise plan with whaling nations, as the International Whaling Commission meets this week in Agadir, Morroco.

Backed by Denmark and Sweden but opposed by most of the EU, the plan offers the whaling nations of Japan, Norway and Iceland the chance to come in from the cold and legitimise their hunt in return for steady reductions in the number of whales they kill.

Under the plan, there woul...