The 62nd Annual Meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) took place in Agadir, Morocco, from 21-25 June 2010, and focused its discussions on the future of the Commission. The IWC Chair had drafted a compromise that would suspend the whaling ban. It would legitimize commercial hunting in exchange for a drop in the number of whales actually killed by those claiming exemptions to the ban, namely Japan, Norway and Iceland. On the last day of the meeting, the Commission agreed that while it was very close to agreement on a number of issues within the proposed consensus decision, there remain major issues upon which more work is required, including such matters as the question of the moratorium, numbers of whales that might be taken, special permit whaling, indigenous whaling, sanctuaries and trade. The IWC also received the report of the Scientific Committee on the status of whale stocks, paid special attention to the status of the endangered western North Pacific gray whale, and received reports from a number of countries on animal welfare issues related to whales and whaling. [IWC press release, 23 June 2010]