Doesn’t matter what other nations think about Japan’s whaling as the country has decided to continue its whale-capturing programs. Until now, the East Asian country has sailed four ships to hunt whales in the Antarctic. This time, the hunting could span until March 2016.

Many times, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has tried to halt Japan’s controversial whaling activities. In 1986, the global intergovernmental body imposed a commercial ban on Japan’s whaling, but the country didn’t stop killing whales. Japanese officials always claimed that whaling is a part of scientific researches, but they couldn’t hide the fact that the animal has been sold commercially.

The country’s Fisheries Agency has already announced that approximately 333 minke whales will be taken out this whaling season. It has promised just to take skin samples and do headcounts. People against Japan’s whaling don’t believe the country is just conducting researches with whales.

Japan has a long and controversial past of whaling. People believe instead of ending up in laboratories, most whales go on dinner plates. In a lawsuit filed against whaling, the International Court found that Japan’s whaling programs were not suggesting scientific researches. Professor Alex Gillespie from the University of Waikato says, “Japan insists its actions are legitimate, despite last year's court ruling. Japan halted its whaling operations in Antarctica because of the court's decision”. But now, Japan has announced to resume whaling activities and kill up to 333 whales for next one year.