RABAT (Reuters) - Replacing a whaling moratorium with a controlled cull will be discussed by negotiators who gather next week to forge a compromise between nations who say hunting whales is their birth-right and those who call it a crime against nature.
A moratorium has been in force for 24 years but Japan, Norway and Iceland have caught thousands of whales since the 1980s, arguing that they are not bound by a total ban despite international condemnation.
