Yasuo Fukuda says he is concerned by the recent action of two anti-whaling activists who boarded a Japanese ship.

Australian Benjamin Potts and Briton Giles Lane boarded the vessel and were held for two days until being handed over to an Australian Customs ship.

Mr Fukuda appealed to the anti-whaling nations to deal with the issue calmly.

"I don't think it's right for the discussions to become emotional especially with the recent violent act against the Japanese research vessel," he said.

"Should that lead to more emotionally charged debates, then I feel that that would be very unfortunate.

"So we should try to continue with our efforts to try to explain we are engaged in this research whaling activity from a scientific viewpoint."
Source: By Australian Broadcasting Corporation