Negotiations for a new whaling agreement collapsed Wednesday in Morocco at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
A controversial proposal would have lifted a 24-year-old ban on whaling, in exchange for a 10-year quota system. Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to whale, despite the ban, and advocates of the quota system said it would result in decreasing number of kills each year.
IWC delegates were unable to agree on the size of the kill that would be allowed each year under the proposal. According to a New York Times article, Japanese officials were opposed to a measure in the proposal that called for completely phasing out whale hunts in Antarctic waters.
Japan blamed the breakdown in talks on countries that refused to consider any condoned whaling, according to an Associated Press story.
IWC delegates said the so-called "peace plan" may be taken up again next year.
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