Japan’s Antarctic whale hunt has been a matter of criticism from a long time. An international court had ordered the East Asian country to stop its whale hunting activity in Antarctica for about 12 months. Now, according to the International Whaling Commission (IWC), Japan is all set to send its send its ships on whale hunt again. The country could send whaling ships on Tuesday, IWC said.

There are reports that Japan has planned to kill approximately 333 minke whales every years for next 12 years. The new numbers are one-third of its previous whale killing numbers in Antarctica. After facing criticism from all sides, the Japanese government had said that the whale killing was part of scientific research, and not a commercial operation.

Japan started whaling in large-scale after World War II, as per a report of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation in the United Kingdom. The organization also revealed that the Japanese government’s whaling activities subsidized the industry, but demand of whale meat has fallen in last few years.

Japan is not the only country interested in whale hunting. Iceland and Norway are some other candidates that are blamed for commercial whaling. Patrick Ramage from International Fund for Animal Welfare in Yarmouth Port said minke whales are too small to be beneficial for whalers. “Many countries have worked their way down from the blue whale through the fin whale, humpback whale and other species. It’s now the little guy — minke whale — that Japan is targeting”, said Ramage.