Hendrik Fischer, of Denmark, will tell commissioners from some 50 nations that a resumption of commercial whaling is vital to restore the credibility of the dispute-wracked body and its ability to ensure the conservation and management of the world's whale stocks.

The IWC is bitterly divided between countries opposed to a resumption of commercial whaling and those backing it, like Japan, Norway and Iceland.

Conservation bodies like Greenpeace are also fiercely opposed to whaling, which it says is inhumane and unnecessary.

In a confidential document circulated to IWC commissioners, Fischer argues his plan is the best way to balance "safe catch limits" with conservation, a dispute over which has blocked progress on a so-called Revised Management Scheme for more than a decade.

"At present our organisation is not generally seen to be working effectively and indeed the present polarised views and actions, are, I believe, detrimental to conservation," Fischer says in the document.

He says that a phased resumption of whaling could be in place by 2006 at the latest.

"I believe that some sort of phased-in approach to commercial whaling could be useful in building public confidence in the IWC's ability to manage whaling and conserve whale stocks," Fischer says in the document.

"This is not to imply ...that there will be immediate widespread whaling on all species around the world," he insists.

"I suggest that the best approach would be by phasing in the areas in which commercial whaling would be allowed," adding that, for an initial five-year period, whaling would only be tolerated in the national waters of member states.

The moratorium has been in place since 1986, to prevent the extinction of a number of endangered species.

But it has been ignored by Norway, while Japan's and Iceland's whaling fleets have been allowed annual quotas of some species for "scientific" purposes, which opponents say is commercial whaling in disguise.

Japan, which has been accused of peddling foreign aid for votes from some smaller African and Caribbean IWC members, has threatened to form its own breakaway whaling organisation if the moratorium does not fall.

The Japanese delegation described the IWC last week as "totally dysfunctional".

But most member states believe that the international body, bitterly divided between conservationists and hunters, still provides the best forum for managing the world's whale population, particularly species which are under threat from extinction.

Fischer's proposals, if accepted at Sorrento meeting, would likely curb a revolt by Tokyo, which has given the move a cautious welcome.

"It's the first time we've witnessed at the IWC a really concerted effort to move forward. The IWC has never really come close to reaching an agreement," a spokesman for the Japanese delegation told AFP.

A three-quarters majority is required to overturn the moratorium and is unlikely to be achieved at the Sorrento meeting, where delegations appear to be split 50-50.

However, Fischer's document is likely to provide a major boost to Japan's efforts to score a moral victory over opponents they claim are condemning a whaling culture and tradition they are ignorant about.

He says a return to full commercial whaling would have the effect of "ensuring the conservation and management of whale stocks for the future, restoring the credibility of the IWC as an effective organisation and providing an example of how modern natural resource management should be carried out".

Failure to put the plan in place "will jeopardise the future of the IWC and serves neither the interests of whale conservation or management."

TERRA.WIRE