While Mr Rudd is sweating on a diplomatic solution to the whaling stalemate, he has told Channel Seven there is now a deadline for court action if the Japanese refuse.

"If that fails then we will initiate that court action before the commencement of the whaling season in November 2010," he said.

"Now that is a direct honouring of the commitment I gave to the Australian people."

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Meanwhile, Japan says it might ignore a ban on commercial bluefin tuna fishing if it is passed at an international convention next month.

The European Commission hopes to take a proposed ban on commercial bluefin tuna fishing to next month's meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Japan consumes three-quarters of the global bluefin tuna catch.

Japan's fisheries minister, Hirotaka Akamatsu, says Tokyo's answer to a trade ban is a "clear no", while a fisheries official has told the AFP news agency that his country could well ignore a ban if one is passed.