We're watching - NZ warns Japan over whaling

New Zealand has told Japan its whaling ships will be closely watched during the season that is about to start, Foreign Minister Murray McCully says.

He said today the Japanese whalers would be coming into New Zealand's search and rescue zone and for that reason would be monitored more closely.

"I've spoken to the Japanese government and told them that New Zealanders are going to be watching what they do this year," he said on TV One's Q&A programme.

"They set themselves a target take in terms of the number of whales they intend to catch - if that is a high number that's going to upset and antagonise New Zealanders a great deal.

"Even if it's a lower number ... even that is going to be upsetting to many and they know that."

Mr McCully said he was trying to persuade the Japanese to get out of whaling.

"Sometime in the next five years they've got to replace some very expensive equipment, particularly the mother ship, if they intend to keep on whaling in the Southern Ocean," he said.

"They have got to spend a large amount of money on new plant and face international hostility, particularly from New Zealand."

Mr McCully said he would be meeting Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd in Canberra this week, and would discuss Japanese whaling with him and the international court case the Australian government is taking against Japan.

New Zealand could join that, and Mr McCully said he wanted to hear about it in detail before a decision was made.

- NZPA