The Japanese government is pursuing a new attempt to whaling in the Antarctic after having to forfeit this season, from 2014-2015, based on a majority verdict by the International Court of Justice.

The ICJ ruled this March that the Japanese Fisheries Agency, a government entity, did not have enough scientific merit behind its capture of whales, based on a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling, El Pais reported.

Instead, Japan appears to have been taking advantage of a loophole, and using the cover of scientific research as their basis for capturing whales in the Antarctic.

But whale meat inevitably appears in Japanese restaurants.

The Associated Press reported that the Japanese government is pursuing a re-entry into a scientifically approved project, by targeting minke whales.

In previous project permits, issued by the International Whaling Commission, Japan received permission to lethally catch up to 400 minke whales.

In the permits for the projects, known as JARPA and JARPA II, the stated project goals included estimation of biological parameters (especially the natural mortality rate) to improve management, elucidation of stock structure to improve management, examination of the role of whales in the Antarctic ecosystem and examination of the effect of environmental changes on cetaceans.

But the court said Japan's Antarctic program produced little actual research and couldn't explain why it needed to kill so many whales as a result, AP reported.

Japanese officials said they are working on a revised plan to submit to IWC.

An official told Agence France-Presse, "Collecting the necessary data requires lethal research, which was acknowledged in the ICJ ruling. "We've yet to decide on the number of catch next year... We plan to submit the new plan to the IWC's scientific committee for approval in October or November."

Past Antarctic expeditions have set a quota of 935 minkes, AFP reported.

While the IWC approval isn't mandatory, any move on Japan's part will put them under scrutiny against the court ruling, AP reported.