Japan says it would go ahead with its annual Northwest Pacific whaling campaign this year, despite an international court ruling against the program last month. But it will be doing it in a sharply scaled down form.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said it would submit a new plan for Antarctic whaling to the International Whaling Commission in 2015, for the purpose of resuming whaling in that area later in the year, and it would also consider measures against anti-whaling activists. No details were given about when the fleet would depart.

It was originally set to leave on April 22, the day before US President Barack Obama arrives in Japan for a state visit. But media reports said its departure would be delayed until April 26, the day after Obama leaves. Tokyo’s decades-old and disputed "scientific whaling" program suffered a blow last month when the International Court of Justice, in a surprise ruling, ordered a halt to its annual hunts in the Southern Ocean.

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