The former dolphin trainer for 1960s TV show "Flipper" was due to discuss dolphin hunting in a highly anticipated meeting with Taiji's Mayor Kazutaka Sangen, the local fisheries union and other environmental activists.

But O'Barry, now an activist with the Earth Island Institute, abruptly left without meeting participants, claiming that organisers broke promises to allow him to have a "frank dialogue" and imposed restrictions on media coverage.

"This conference has turned out to be a total sham," O'Barry said in a statement. "I will not take part in it in any way. I will boycott this whole disgraceful set-up."

The meeting had been organised with the aim of fostering dialogue between environmental activists and pro-whalers, with the town's annual dolphin slaughter increasingly falling under the international spotlight.

Every year fishermen in Taiji corral about 2,000 dolphins into a secluded bay, select several dozen for sale to aquariums and marine parks and slaughter the rest for meat, a practice long deplored by animal rights campaigners.

Japanese fishermen, who also hunt whales, have defended killing the mammals as part of a centuries-old tradition and a mainstay of the local economy.

But the gathering, which was only open to the media, was organised by a pro-whaling group that censored questions and expelled journalists who tried to return to the hall after covering O'Barry's walkout.

"The boycott was a last-minute decision," O'Barry told AFP.

He said he planned to invite Taiji Mayor Sangen to "a real forum ... maybe in San Francisco or Tokyo".

"If he doesn't come, then we are going to have a meeting anyhow. It's up to him. Maybe he will boycott it," he said, ignoring loudspeakers on a van driven by event organisers which barracked him with the slogan "You liar: Go home now."

The meeting went ahead without O'Barry, with the mayor and the local fisheries union speaking with representatives of environmental groups Sea Shepherd, the Whaleman Foundation and the World Ocean Fund.

"The molestation, the capture and the slaughter of cetaceans -- dolphins and whales -- is barbaric and uncivilised," Scott West of Sea Shepherd told the meeting.

"Japan is the major offender," West said. "The activities of a handful of men in Taiji stained the reputation of the entire nation of Japan. When will Taiji end this shameful behaviour?"

Taiji assemblyman Katsutoshi Mihara replied: "We believe that our way of thinking is correct. We are annoyed with your one-sided sense of values. This is our message to you. We will go parallel to each other, never get crossed."

Asked by Sea Shepherd what it can do for the town, Mayor Sangen only said: "It is Taiji town residents who are going to make a decision on Taiji. You can think about it only after you are registered as a resident here."

Despite a lack of concrete results Jeff Pantukhoff, president of the Whaleman Foundation, said he welcomed the forum.

"This was kind of an introductory meeting. I feel it's a first good step."

The talks coincided with the annual September-April hunting season, for which Taiji has been allowed a catch quota of 2,241 small whales and dolphins.

"The Cove", directed by Louie Psihoyos, won the Academy Award for best documentary this year. The film team often worked clandestinely and at night to elude local authorities and angry fishermen, setting up disguised cameras.

Right-wing nationalist groups in Japan had warned the film's distributor to scrap screenings, but it managed the first commercial showing at a police-guarded Tokyo theatre in July with a minor skirmish.

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