A former whaling captain warned that Japan's annual whale hunt in Antarctica could hurt Australia's $300-million-a-year whale-watch industry.

Paddy Hart, the former master of Cheynes II which is Australia's last whaling vessel, is now an active anti-whaling campaigner. He pointed out that Australia could make more money from whale-watching than whale-catching.

Western Australia closed the Albany whaling station in 1978 at the start of the decline of global demand for whale meat and products. However, in 2007, Japan declared it would go against a five-decade ban on hunting humpbacks by including 50 humpbacks in the country's total whale quota of 1,000 per year.

Although Japan changed its plan and focused instead on catching 900 minke and 50 fin whales, the 50 allocation for humpbacks was not removed from its quota.

"The only reason humpbacks come so close to boats now is there has been a moratorium on killing them for the last 50 years. They know that if they come up to boats, they will get a welcome reception," The Herald Sun quoted Mr Hart.

"But as soon as you start shooting them, well, that's it - they're not going to come close again.... It's their instinct in the wild - whenever they're in danger they flee," he explained.

The humpbacks migrate along Australia's coast yearly and form the whale-watching industry in Australia. Mr Hart said that large humpbacks come close to their calves and teach them how to swim in warmer Australian waters. After the swimming lessons, the humpbacks return to Antarctica to feed.

The international whale-watch industry is worth $2 billion and grows at a rate of 10 per cent a year, pointed out former Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

Commercial whaling was prohibited in 1986 by an international treaty, but some countries such as Japan still hunt the mammals under the guise of scientific research.

With the start of Japan's yearly whale hunt in Antarctica on Dec 15, Australia joined the United States, New Zealand and the Netherlands in condemning the activity.

In a joint statement released by the U.S. State Department, the four nations warned of violent clashes between Japanese whalers and environmental protection groups such as the Sea Shepherd.

"We are deeply concerned that confrontations in the Southern Ocean will eventually lead to injury or loss of life among protesters, many of whom are nationals of our countries, and whaling crews," the joint statement said.

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