OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's parliament has called for a three-fold increase in whale hunting quotas in a move it said would protect stocks of cod and other fish eaten by the giant mammals.

Norway, along with Japan and Iceland, harpoons whales despite the International Whaling Commission (IWC) declaring a moratorium nearly two decades ago.

"We want to increase quotas," Fisheries Minister Svein Ludvigsen told parliament on Tuesday, which unanimously passed a non-binding resolution urging Oslo to raise minke whale catches "considerably" as soon as possible.

Whalers rejoiced at the prospect that annual quotas might rise to the 1960s-70s average of 1,800 minke whales from 670 in 2004. But the WWF environment group denounced the plans, saying that Norway was blaming whales for its own over-fishing.

The resolution proposed a rise in line with recommendations from Norwegian researchers who said Norway could catch 1,800 whales a year from a North Atlantic stock they estimated at 107,000 animals.

Oslo says that minke whales are plentiful, damage commercial fish stocks and do not need to be kept on endangered lists -- unlike species like the sperm whale or blue whale, the biggest creature on the planet.

HUNGRY SEALS

Parliament's resolution said that seals and whales eat at least 5.5 million tonnes of fish and krill a year, double the tonnage caught by fishermen. Killing one minke whale could enable a five tonne hike in catches of cod or herring, it said.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Norway was blaming whales for its own over-fishing. Last week it warned fish quotas are unsustainable and cod could become extinct in 15 years.

"The problem with Norwegian fisheries is over-harvesting by fishermen. To kill more marine mammals to camouflage that is a very bad idea," said Rasmus Hansson, WWF's secretary general in Norway.

Ludvigsen said IWC estimates of minke whale stocks implied Oslo could raise North Atlantic catches to 750 animals, but Oslo would resort to the higher Norwegian catch estimates if the IWC would not sanction Oslo's hunts.

"I share your impatience," Ludvigsen said, but added that it was too late to raise the 2004 quota.

Ludvigsen also said that Oslo wanted to start scientific research on other types of whales, marking them with satellite transmitters to assess stocks in a possible prelude to hunts.