¡¡¡¡Tokyo, May 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Whaling Commission (IWC) opened its 54th annual plenary assembly meeting Monday in the western Japanese city of Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.

¡¡¡¡With participation of over 2,000 delegates from 40 countries and regions worldwide, the meeting could see the pro-whaling lobby gain more power and threaten the conservationist stance during itsf ive-day duration.

¡¡¡¡Pro- and anti-whaling sides are expected to wage a fierce battle against each other at the five-day conference in this former whaling town of Shimonoseki.

¡¡¡¡But heated debate between the two camps is unlikely to result in a major breakthrough since any binding decision requires a three-quarters majority at the IWC.

¡¡¡¡With support of a number of island countries, Japanese Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tsutomu Takebe calledon IWC to allow what Japan calls the sustainable use of whale and other marine resources in a commercial way.

¡¡¡¡But anti-whaling countries lodged strong protests, particularlygiven to Japan-Norway whale meat trade program and Japan's plan toexpand one program to catch 50 North Pacific sei whales, considered an endangered species.

¡¡¡¡Officials of the countries said that so-called "research" whaling must be abolished to protect endangered species of the intelligent oceanic mammals.

¡¡¡¡Under the cover of "research" whaling, more than 20,000 whales have been caught for industrial and commercial consumption since some island countries gave up commercial whaling in 1986 in compliance with an IWC moratorium.

¡¡¡¡The 48-member IWC is a global nongovernmental organization on whaling administration and whale protection. Enditem

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