"In IUCN's view it would be much better if the countries return to the negotiating table and conclude a regulatory system so that the kind of renegade whaling by Iceland and other countries won't occur," he added.

Cooke said Iceland had warned that it was likely to resume whaling when talks at the International Whaling Commission on a regulated system were suspended amid disagreement earlier this year.

The whaling commission narrowly passed a resolution in June declaring that a 20-year moratorium on commercial whale hunting, which is designed to preserve sparse whale populations, was "no longer necessary".

The Icelandic fisheries ministry announced on Tuesday that it would authorise commercial whaling again, making it only the second country after Norway to hunt whales for commercial reasons.

"IUCN is concerned that the failure to conclude an international regime for the regulation for whaling means that unilateral whaling by countries is likely to increase," Cooke said.

Iceland authorised whalers to hunt 30 minke whales and nine fin whales in the period from September 1, 2006, to August 31, 2007. A ministry official said the meat would be exported.

Cooke said those were largely symbolic levels of whaling but cautioned that a move to export meat would be worrying.

"That would mean Iceland is not just turning its back on the International Whaling Commission but also on another convention on the trade on endangered species," he said.

The United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) forbids trade in big whales. The convention has been signed by 160 countries, including whaling nations Iceland, Norway and Japan.

Japan abides by the whaling commission moratorium but conducts some "research" whaling through what opponents say is a loophole in the IWC charter.

Iceland had also respected the whaling moratorium until Tuesday. Norway ignores it.

Around 2,000 whales are hunted and killed each year.

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