Funchal, Portugal  - Portuguese Environment Minister Francisco Nunes Correia on Monday called for flexibility at the start of a five-day meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) pitting whaling countries and their opponents.

Japan, Denmark, Norway and Iceland were expected to press for more whaling rights at the IWC's 61st annual meeting which brought hundreds of delegates from 85 countries to Portugal's Madeira Island.

The current international ban on commercial whale hunting "has been a success and allowed the recovery of many species," Nunes Correia said at the inauguration of the meeting, urging governments to get more involved in negotiations to break the current "deadlock."

However, the minister did not expect an "international consensus" to be reached on Madeira, saying that narrowing down the differences would already amount to a "success."

The 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling is currently not respected by Norway and Iceland, which have reserved their position on it.

Japan officially hunts whales only for scientific purposes, but much of the meat is sold for consumption.

Japan now wants to introduce non-scientific whaling near its coast.

Denmark is seeking permission for its autonomous territory Greenland to hunt humpback whales, which are not among the whale species already hunted by its indigenous population.(dpa)