Japan has halted its whaling in the Antarctic Ocean for this season because of harassment by the Sea Shepherd antiwhaling group, fisheries minister Michihiko Kano said Friday.
The whaling had been slated to run until March.
It is the first time Japan's so-called research whaling, which runs from fall to spring, has been suspended due to interference since the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society began to target the whalers in 2005.