(For a related factbox on whaling, click on [nSP199436] By Elaine Lies TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - A special meeting of the International Whaling Commission began on Tuesday, with host Japan and like-minded countries hoping the gathering will build momentum to resume commercial hunting of the giant creatures. Japan wants to shift the commission's focus to whale management rather than a moratorium, but with some 26 anti-whaling nations -- including Australia, New Zealand and the United States -- boycotting the meeting, prospects for dialogue in the polarised organisation appear slim. Thirty-four of the commission's 72 members were attending and another two expected to show up at the three-day meeting, which Japanese officials have termed a final attempt to save the commission by drafting proposals to submit at its annual meeting in May. "One of our goals is to improve the atmosphere of the IWC, which has become one of confrontation, and to improve dialogue," Minoru Morimoto, the commissioner for Japan, told the meeting. "It's a shame that most anti-whaling nations chose confrontation," he said, adding he hoped the commission would at its May meeting seriously consider normalisation, a Japanese code word for resuming commercial hunting. Ahead of the meeting, a Japanese whaling ship and protest vessels collided in the Southern Ocean. The protesters said they would next ram a Japanese factory ship, despite Australian calls for them to back off before someone was killed. In Tokyo, three anti-whaling protesters, including a man wearing a mask of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's face, carried a signboard saying "Welcome to the commercialisation meeting". One activist was dressed as a weeping whale. Pasted to the sign were 10,000 yen ($82) notes and names of several countries, an allusion to charges by anti-whalers that Japan had bought pro-whaling votes at the IWC with foreign aid. Japan has repeatedly denied the allegations. The IWC instituted a commercial whaling ban in 1986. But the group is now bitterly divided between countries that assert all whales need protection and others, like Japan, that say some species are now abundant enough for limited hunting. Japan, which says whaling is a cherished cultural tradition, began scientific research whaling in 1987. The meat, which under commission rules must be sold for consumption, ends up in supermarkets and pricey restaurants but is far from a daily menu choice. Some experts say Japan fears that limits on whaling will lead to limits on all Japanese fishing, a crucial food source in a nation with limited agricultural land. ($1=121.93 Yen)
