Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to boost efforts to resume whale hunting in the Antarctic despite a top UN court ordering a halt to Tokyo’s annual hunts in the Southern Ocean.

Japan claims its whaling programme is for scientific purposes and not mainly for human consumption.

Speaking to a parliamentary commission on Monday, Abe said:

“I want to aim for the resumption of commercial whaling by conducting whaling research in order to obtain scientific data indispensable for the management of whale resources.

“To that end, I will step up efforts further to get understanding from the international community.”

His comments, three months after the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), will disappoint anti-whaling groups.