The government said Tuesday it will reduce the number of whales to be taken in the Antarctic Ocean to one-third of the previous target as the country resumes research whaling in the region in defiance of an order by the International Court of Justice.
In a revised whaling plan submitted to the International Whaling Commission, Japan set an annual target cull of 333 minke whales, down from 935, after the ruling declared Japan's numerical catch target was not driven by strictly scientific considerations.
The effort to resume Antarctic whaling in fiscal 2015 is certain to reignite anger among the anti-whaling countries that pushed Japan to call a halt to its hunts.