Australian government ‘deeply disappointed’ by Japan’s decision to expand commercial whaling target list

Fin whale numbers globally are thought to be rising, but remain vulnerable according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Photograph: Francois Gohier/VWPics/Alamy

The Australian government is “deeply disappointed” by Japan’s decision to add the world’s second-largest whale species to the list of species its commercial whale hunters will target.

Tanya Plibersek, the environment minister, attacked Japan’s decision to hunt fin whales – the world’s second-longest whale and considered vulnerable.