The Japanese government will resume whaling in the Antarctic early next year despite a ruling that ordered Japan to stop the controversial practice.
The government said it took into account the ruling, saying the new “scientific” whaling program will be smaller than previous iterations. The International Court of Justice ruled in March 2014 that Japan’s decades-old whale hunt in the Antarctic should be put to an end, prompting Tokyo to cancel the majority of its whaling this season.
But the Japanese Fisheries Agency on Nov. 27 said it will resume whaling, and it plans to catch 333 Antarctic minke whales annually over a 12-year period, reported Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
In November 2014, Japan submitted a plan to the International Whaling Commission to resume whaling, saying that only minke whales will be targeted. In the past, Japanese vessels caught Humpback whales as well as the more common minke species.
