Although the non-binding resolution will not result in the moratorium being overturned, it was a significant triumph for Japan and other states campaigning for the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to lift the ban on commercial whaling.

The moratorium would need a 75 percent super-majority to be overturned. The resolution proposed by commission hosts St Kitts and Nevis passed by 33 to 32 votes with one abstention.

The resolution declared: "The moratorium, which was clearly intended as a temporary measure, is no longer necessary."

Environmental activists had strongly opposed the resolution and expressed disappointment at the vote.

"This is the most significant setback since it came into force," said Kitty Block, a lawyer with Humane Society International.

The vote represented a major victory for pro-whaling nations led by Japan who want to turn the IWC away from pure conservation and back to a focus on managing whale stocks for hunting.

"This is an historic victory," said Glenn Inwood, spokesman for the Japanese delegation. "It is only a matter of time before it is gone completely."

Japan hopes to use the declaration as a political weapon, allowing it to argue that more states than not on the 70-nation IWC believed the moratorium should be lifted.

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