World IN BRIEF : JAPAN : 330 Whales Reported Caught for ‘Research’

Japan, the world’s largest consumer of whale meat, defied international pressure to catch more than 300 minke whales on a so-called research mission in the Antarctic, a source close to a research institute said. Japan sent one mother ship and three catcher boats to the Antarctic last November on what was called a five-month research mission to catch minke whales. “A total of 330 minke whales have been caught,” said a source close to the Institute of Cetacean Research, which conducts “research whaling” on behalf of the Japanese Fisheries Agency.