The latest Norwegian commercial whaling quota - the largest in 25 years - undermines international negotiations and shows Norway is not prepared to compromise, an animal welfare group says.

The Norwegian government has set a commercial whaling quota of 1286 whales - six more than the Japanese quota and its highest in more than 25 years, according to the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA).

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) will meet in June to consider a proposal to allow Norway, Japan and Iceland to commercially hunt whales in exchange for a reduction in the number of animals killed.

New Zealand is opposed to whaling but is supporting moves to allow restricted commercial whaling over the next 10 years, if it means a big cut to numbers of whales killed.

Under an IWC moratorium introduced in 1986 commercial whaling was suspended, but Norway and Iceland ignore the edict while Japan uses a loophole allowing lethal scientific research.

Norway's new quota showed it was not prepared to compromise on its whaling activities, WSPA New Zealand country manager Bridget Vercoe said.

"Norway's ongoing and escalating whaling shows a clear lack of good faith in the negotiations and undermines the compromise process which the New Zealand Government is so keen to support," she said.

Ms Vercoe said the quota also "defies all logic" when the demand for whale meat was falling.

"In fact, this year's inflated numbers are largely due to the unexploited quota of 401 whales carried over from 2009, when Norwegian whalers ended their season prematurely, due, in part, to a collapse in domestic demand for whale meat."

The price of whale meat had fallen to as low as 30 Norwegian kroner (about $NZ7) per kilogram, cheaper than beef or reindeer meat, Ms Vercoe said.

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