InsideJapan News Network

Problems with interference from whaling protestors has seen the annual Japanese whaling haul down by 50 per cent.

The boats caught half of what they aimed to target, according to the Japanese Fisheries Agency, with the Sea Shepherd environmental protestors blamed for the poor result.

In total, the vessels returned to Japanese shores with 507 whales. One of these was a finback whale and the other 506 were southern minke whales, the agency said.

Representatives from the Sea Shepherd group tried to disrupt the catch by throwing rancid butter at the boats and using their own ships to block the whaling vessels.

One activist is to go on trial after he managed to board a harpoon boat in the middle of the night in an attempt to perform a citizen's arrest on the vessel's captain.

Whaling has been banned worldwide since 1986 but Japan claims that the main reason for its annual hunt is scientific research.

Written by Kimberley Homer.