Tokyo ( CNN ) -- The Japanese government has affirmed that $ 29 million from its budget for post-earthquake and tsunami reconstruction is going toward extra security measures for the country 's whaling fleet , angering environmental activists like Greenpeace . The whaling industry is `` siphoning money away from the victims of the March 11 triple disaster , at a time when they need it most , '' Junichi Sato , executive director of Greenpeace Japan , said this week , referring to the earthquake , tsunami and nuclear crisis that struck Japan in March . But Tatsuya Nakaoku , an official from the Japanese Fisheries Agency , said Thursday he funds would help `` support the reconstruction of a whaling town and nearby area , '' which was devastated by the natural disasters . `` Many people in the area eat whale meat , '' he said . `` They are waiting for Japan 's commercial whaling to resume and it is their hope for recovery . '' The government had said earlier this year , after it passed the tsunami reconstruction budget , that it would strengthen `` measures against acts of sabotage by anti-whaling groups , '' Nakaoku said . The government earmarked a total of 498.9 billion yen ( $ 6.4 billion ) of the reconstruction budget for spending on fisheries . Of that , 2.28 billion yen has been put into extra security measures for the whaling fleet , which left port for its annual hunt Tuesday . Japan 's whale hunts are conducted by the Institute of Cetacean Research , a nonprofit research organization overseen by Japan 's Ministry of Agriculture , Forestry and Fisheries . An official from the Japanese Coast Guard said the deployment of guards this year to protect the fleet from obstruction by anti-whaling activists was the largest yet , but declined to give exact numbers . The Coast Guard had previously provided protection to the fleet for its 2007-08 and 2010-11 hunts . Last season 's whale hunt in the Southern Ocean was cut short when anti-whaling activists from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society blocked strikes on the animals . Sea Shepherd said its actions saved 800 whales , and the organization has promised to be back in force this season . Japan has faced international pressure to curtail its whaling activities . In 2010 , Australia initiated proceedings in the International Court of Justice to stop Japanese whaling . CNN 's Junko Ogura contributed to this report .
Greenpeace says money is being `` siphoned away '' from the disaster victims . The government says the funds help support the recovery of a devastated whaling town . Officials : The deployment of guards with this year 's whaling fleet is the largest yet .