Conservation Minister Chris Carter said New Zealand regarded the hunting as unjustifiable and he likened it to hunting other endangered species such as tigers or gorillas.

"Humpback and fin whales are severely depleted whales species and New Zealand is very worried about the impact of further hunting on their numbers," Carter said.

At a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in South Korea in June, Japan failed to get approval for its proposal that commercial whaling be resumed after a 19-year moratorium.

But it said it would double its so-called scientific whaling programme, under which it says it hunts whales in the name of research. Critics say the programme is simply a means to get around the moratorium.

"Most of the global community accept that killing whales is not necessary to study whale populations. Yet Japan continues to do so," Carter said Tuesday.

"Scientific whaling is only legal because the provisions in the international convention on the regulation of whaling are out of step with modern conservation approaches. New Zealand is working to remedy this."

The Japanese fisheries ministry said that the fleet had left earlier Tuesday, intending to kill around 850 minke whales as well as 10 fin whales, the first time Japan has gone after the endangered fin species.

The fleet will return to Japan in mid-April after which the meat will go on the market, a fisheries ministry official said.

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