Sydney  - Australia and Japan are in talks that would see more whales killed in the North Pacific in return for fewer being taken in the Antarctic, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Tuesday.

The negotiations, held under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), are at a preliminary stage, he told national broadcaster ABC.

"It's quite clear from reports that we've seen coming out of the IWC that suggestions of this nature have been made at officials' level," Smith said.

Under terms revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald, Japan would be allowed to kill more whales in its own waters and more in the North Pacific.

In return, "scientific whaling" in the Southern Ocean would either be phased out or an annual quota set.

Japan uses a loophole in the IWC rule book to hunt whales for what calls "scientific" purposes, but which opponents claim is soley for commercial reasons.

The Liberal Party's Greg Hunt, opposition spokesman on the environment, condemned a deal that would see the parties to the talks - Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Sweden, Brazil and Japan - condone whaling.

"This is completely unacceptable," he said. "Australia's position must be: No way, no whaling, whatever."

Japan said it intended to take almost 1,000 whales this hunting season. The meat ends up in supermarkets.

Australia and New Zealand have led international protests against the killing of whales, but have tried to avoid confrontation with Japan. (dpa)