Australia has hailed the early end of this season's Antarctic whale hunt by Japan and says it never wants to see another one.
The Japanese government confirmed today it was cutting short this season's hunt, citing harassment from environmentalists on the high seas.
Activists from the US-based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have pursued the Japanese fleet for weeks to keep its harpoon ships from killing whales.
Japanese Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano said his government had made its decision to keep its whaling crew safe.
Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke welcomed the announcement.
"I'm glad this season is over and Australia doesn't believe there should ever be another whaling season again," Mr Burke said.
Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt said Japan's decision was a good start but represented only a "temporary stay of execution" for the whales. "We need to make sure that this is the end of whaling in the Antarctic - for good."
Mr Hunt called on the government to "get moving" on the legal action it launched against Japan in the International Court of Justice last year.
"Next week is Senate estimates and I call on the government to release its timeline for the legal action which could put a permanent stop to whaling in the Antarctic." Greenpeace said Australia had to do even more.
"Winning the case in front of the International Court of Justice is important but it is not enough," Greenpeace Australia Pacific chief executive Linda Selvey said.
"This means working with other countries to investigate vote-buying on the International Whaling Commission and it means applying strong diplomatic pressure during the negotiations of a new free trade agreement with Japan." Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson said Japan's decision was great news.
"This is a great victory for the whales but we did not do this alone," he said. "Without the support of the people of Australia and New Zealand, we would not have been able to send voyages out for seven seasons from Australian and New Zealand ports."
Sea Shepherd has had a string of clashes with Japan's fleet over the last seven years.
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown said it was a historic day and congratulated Sea Shepherd for its "great victory".
Senator Brown said the crew should be given an Order of Australia.
"If we can do that for foreign ministers of regimes elsewhere we can certainly do it for these courageous people," he said.
"It's a really great day.
The ninth of February 2011 saw the last whale killed by this fleet." Japan kills hundreds of whales every year under a loophole in a 1986 moratorium on commercial whaling that allows lethal research.
Japan has long defended its hunts as part of its culture but anti-whaling countries such as Australia and New Zealand have sought an end to the practice.
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