Japan cannot unilaterally decide to start whaling in the Antarctic Ocean again against the advice of scientists, says Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

Japan is set to ignore an International Court of Justice ruling that last year prompted Tokyo to cancel the bulk of its whaling for the 2014-15 season.

The Japanese Fisheries Agency has notified the International Whaling Commission that it will resume whaling in the 2015-16 season under a revised plan.

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“Australia strongly opposes the decision by Japan to resuming whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer,” Mr Hunt said on Saturday.

The commission is reviewing the science behind Japan’s revised plan and has raised serious concerns.

“Japan cannot unilaterally decide whether it has adequately addressed the scientific committee’s questions,” Mr Hunt said.

The plan, which calls for cutting annual minke whale catches by two-thirds to 333, is scientifically reasonable, Japan says in a document filed with the IWC.

Mr Hunt said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have also directly told Japan that Australia does not support whaling.

“Australia will continue to pursue the issue through the International Whaling Commission and in direct discussions with Japan,” he said.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said the government has gone silent on Japan’s whaling.

“Time and time again the Greens have told them simply relying on the International Court of Justice result will not be sufficient to put an end to illegal Japanese commercial whaling,” Senator Whish-Wilson said.

“But the government ignored our warnings and now we are back where we started.”

Japan began what it calls scientific whaling in 1987, a year after an international whaling moratorium took effect.

Japan has long maintained that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale is part of its food culture