Japanese whaling ships are set to sail on December 1, defying a United Nations ruling that the country’s “research ships” are actually commercial hunts in violation of international regulations.
Japan stopped whaling for one year after the International Court of Justice ruled that the whaling programs didn’t qualify as scientific.
But the country’s Fisheries Agency said in a statement that whaling will resume and run from December until March 2017.
The government says the re-started program takes the court decision into account, and will capture about one-third of what it used to kill, or 333 Antarctic minke whales.
Four ships will be involved in the hunt, which will also include non-lethal research.
Japan says that while it is abiding by the court decision, its practices are sustainable and animal rights concerns are sentimental and irrelevant, in a document submitted to the International Whaling Commission, according to BBC.
Much of the whale meat produced from the research runs ends up in supermarkets and restaurants.
