Australia did not agree to give more protection on Japanese whaling vessels passing by the country's waters under attack by environmentalists and anti-whaling activists.

Environment Minister Tony Burke did not grant Japan's request that more special protection be imposed on whaling ships because of the harassment gouged by environmentalists on them.

Mr Burke said after discussions with Japanese shipping authorities that Australia will abide by the principles of safety at sea and international maritime law.

Nevertheless, he said Australia "simply can't agree" providing more protection to Japanese ships than other vessels operating in the area.

Environmentalists and other advocates of anti-whaling in the area have launched a barrage of attacks into the whaling vessels mainly comprised by Japanese ships.

AFP reports indicated that the environment activists had threw paint, smoke bombs and rancid butter in bottles toward the Japanese whaling ships. They also got a rope entangled in the propeller on a harpoon vessel, causing it to slow down.

It is the season of whaling for some Japanese whalers. They regularly hunt in Antarctic waters south of Australia, a feeding ground for 80 percent of the world's whales, and the government commission has no enforcement powers to stop them. Japan insists the hunt is for scientific research, which anti-whaling nations disputed.

"This so-called scientific whaling lacks any scientific argument behind it," Mr Burke said. "What's going on there is commercial whaling. Australia is opposed to commercial whaling." Australia has launched a complaint against Japanese whaling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the UN's highest court.

Commercial whaling is banned by a 1986 moratorium. Talks on allowing limited commercial whaling broke down last year, and no breakthroughs are expected at IWC talks in Jersey, AFP said.