About 333 minke whales, including pregnant females, were killed by Japan's whaling fleet that sailed off in the Antartic Southern Ocean after a yearlong suspension.

Japan's Fisheries Agency has confirmed that the whaling fleet of four vessels returned home after achieving its mission of hauling 333 minke whales.

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Of the total haul, 103 were males and 230 were females, with about 90 percent of the females pregnant. The whaling fleet returned to Shimonoseki in southwestern Japan on Thursday, according to a Reuters report.

"The number of pregnant females is consistent with previous hunts, indicating that the breeding situation of minke whales in the Antarctic is healthy," the agency said in a statement.

Anti-whaling groups lambasted Japan for the death of 333 whales, saying the whaling was an apparent violation of a ruling by the International Court of Justice.

It was in 2014 when the International Court of Justice ordered Japan to stop its whaling in the Southern Ocean. Japan called off the hunt that season but resumed later.

Despite international criticism, Japan resumed its whaling and set out its fleet in December.

According to the Reuters report, Japan's whaling operations will continue despite criticism from the international community, including the United States.

Over the next 12 years, Japan aims to haul nearly 4,000 whales as part of its research program. It said it conducts this "scientific whaling" strictly for research; however, the meat is sold commercially and government agencies say the ultimate goal is the resumption of commercial whaling.

The Japanese government has long maintained that most whale species are not endangered and that eating whale meat is already a part of the Japanese culture.

TagsWhale, japan whaling