Posted on 04/13/2008 9:40:19 AM PDT by george76
The captain and first officer of the anti-sealing ship the Farley Mowat were due to appear in court in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday, a day after their arrest off the west coast of Newfoundland.
They have been charged with interfering with the seal hunt after a confrontation with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker two weeks ago.
Their vessel was boarded and seized Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by RCMP officers, working with officials from the federal Fisheries Department and the coast guard...
Paul Watson of the international group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which owns the vessel, said its seizure and the arrests amount to an "act of war" because the ship is registered in the Netherlands and was in international waters.
However, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said the arrests were made within Canadian waters...
Hearn said the ship's crew failed to comply with warnings and continued to violate marine and fisheries regulations.
"The government of Canada has taken action to protect the safety and livelihoods of Canadian sealers by boarding and seizing the Farley Mowat to arrest its captain and chief officer for alleged violations of Canada's marine mammal regulations," ...
The minister said officers boarded the anti-sealing vessel after the ship ignored orders to go to port.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbc.ca ...
You could be a British loyalist arguing for the death penalty for Washington and the signatories to the Declaration of Independence. You take your view zealously and fail to see the cause of Watson's actions. What you should ask is why Watson can dock in several countries including the United States and yet none of them will or cannot find legitimate reason to put him in jail. I find that amazing or the claims of his detractors are exaggerated.
Amendment 9.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Nice try.
L
Please explain to me how the government of Canada is oppressing Watson and associates though having legalized seal hunting and preventing him from interfering.
What you should ask is why Watson can dock in several countries including the United States and yet none of them will or cannot find legitimate reason to put him in jail.
Let's see. He's been tried and convicted in absentia in Norway for attempting to sink a Norwegian fishing vessel, but managed to get the Dutch to refuse to extradite him.
In Costa Rica he was charged with attempted murder after he tried to ram a 13 foot fishing boat with their much larger ship.
He posted bail and fled the country. He did apparently produce evidence of illegal shark finning, but does that justify trying to ram a 13 foot fishing boat? What threat was that tiny boat to him and his crew? Why couldn't he call in authorities, or even if necessary and authorized by law, take the fisherman into custody themselves?
Is the just penalty for shark finning death at the hands of a vigilante without a trial?
From my searches, I didn't see any reference to the charges being dropped.
It appears he generally operates in international waters, and those he harasses don't generally have evidence to prove their case, so it becomes a matter of he said she said, and Watson's political connections and considerable finical backing make him very hard to prosecute.
However, it appears that they are arresting members from the crew of his ship this time, so we will just have to wait and see how this one turns out.
However, since Watson himself wasn't on the ship, it's only his lackeys that might go to jail this time, and since the seal hunters don't appear to have much solid evidence to back up their claims, it also appears that they are only facing relatively minor charges.
It is also possible that his own claims of ramming boats are exaggerated to help him try and scare others into submitting in a confrontation out of fear.
If true, that doesn't make his actions any more noble.
The Norwegians don't count. They gave Al Gore and Jimmy Carter (a man who dances with terrorists) and Arafat (a certified terrorist) the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegians are the worlds biggest buyers of seal furs, so that crime syndicate will stoop to any depth to rub out Watson. The Dutch were too smart for that.
Yes the Costa Ricans saw the political consequences of jailing Watson for doing the police work they wouldn't.
Look, in the United States we have a whale watching industry. Most Americans see no need to slaughter maritime mammals. They are more interested in seeing them alive. There is no need for survival to justify this commercial slaughter. We are not Aluets living on ice with meager protien resources. These seals are not killed food, just the furs and organs for perverse beliefs. In the United States, I'm sure it would get you jail time, yet little attention is brought to us by the media about our Northern neighbor.
For some strange reason, Freepers would think I am a bleeding heart liberal because of my abhorrence of wanton slaughter. Yet, the greatest destroyers of nature are socialist countries - The former Soviet Union, China, many failing Marxist African nations. Canada wants to join their ranks. It fits in with their socialized health care, growing limits on free speech, hard cash economics, the general disdain for America. Yet Freepers cheer them on. These cheer leaders strike me as the kind who would like to sit in the comfort of a railroad car and slaughter bison, pleasure killing.
I'll take my hat off to the stealthy hunter who goes into the woods hunting with a pistol. At least the wary prey have a chance. I'm sure if the prey could talk they would rather have a chance at getting away from a true sportsman than be "humanely" killed by some unfit hunter with a high powered rifle mounted with a scope. I also question the accuracy of the "humane" riflemen and doubt their claim of make a quick kill.
I suspect the socialized Canadian economy in the Maritime provinces sucks and the poor Canadians are doing the slaughter that better off Americans won't do. It wouldn't happen in the States.
More power to Watson for doing what he has to do to bring attention to the slaughter. He's doing the work the media dare not.
He and his crew should be cut up for bait. :’)
Thanks g.
Or they saw the real consequences of asking Watson to do such work. They had invited him to come police their waters, and had even asked him to take that fisherman into custody.
It was after they saw how he actually operated that he was criminally charged, but was basically let go because they had been stupid enough to ask him to help in the first place.
These seals are not killed food, just the furs and organs for perverse beliefs.
The most commercially valuable part of the seals is unquestionably the fur. That is the main reason they are hunted.
There is also the argument that seals prey on the recovering cod stocks that are so important to the Canadian fishing industry. However since they don't a ton of cod, and they also eat the fish that prey on cod, it's questionable if the seal has any significant effect on the cod population.
Other parts of the seal are used, but if you take out the commercial value of the fur, there wouldn't be enough money in seal hunting to support it as a commercial enterprise.
You can argue that people really don't need seal fur. Of course you can argue that we don't need to eat beef either.
For some strange reason, Freepers would think I am a bleeding heart liberal because of my abhorrence of wanton slaughter.
I think it's more from due to your tendency to make emotional arguments on this topic, and rationalize away the actions of people like Watson. You're arguing like a liberal. You're also willing to take at face value the claims of radical environmental groups.
Yet, the greatest destroyers of nature are socialist countries - The former Soviet Union, China, many failing Marxist African nations. Canada wants to join their ranks.
Another example of why people think you're acting like a liberal. The seal population has tripled since 1970. The seal hunt is sustainable. Nature isn't being destroyed by the seal hunt.
As for the entire seal not being used, have you ever seen how bear feed on salmon as the salmon are trying to swim up river.
The rivers are teeming with salmon, so the bears catch the fish and rips out the part that is highest in fat, and tosses the rest of the fish (which is most of the fish) back in the water or on the bank. Then they grab another.
Seals actually often do the same thing with cod.
I'll take my hat off to the stealthy hunter who goes into the woods hunting with a pistol. At least the wary prey have a chance.
You grew up in a city didn't you? I'm guessing that you never hunted, and didn't grow up around many people that do either.
Almost no one hunts with a pistol, and almost all that do are doing so for the sport of it. I did know some guys that carried 44 magnum revolvers while deer hunting because working your way through brush with a rifle in hand is a pain. Some of the hunters would often circle around and work their way through the brush trying to drive the deer towards their friends who were sitting up in deer stands, but if they were able to get close enough to one, the revolver would give them the option of taking a shot.
A pistol or revolver is generally a personal defense weapon. It can be used to hunt, but a long gun is better for that purpose, and is what is used by the vast majority of hunters. The majority of hunters don't even own handguns.
I don't actually hunt. Never really enjoyed hunting. However, it is a useful tool for managing animal populations, and don't object to hunting.
I suspect the socialized Canadian economy in the Maritime provinces sucks and the poor Canadians are doing the slaughter that better off Americans won't do. It wouldn't happen in the States.
It no longer happens in the States because of the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Populations of marine mammals in the US were getting dangerously low, so banning hunting of them except for by Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo peoples was reasonable.
I support reasonable restrictions on hunting to maintain animal populations as sustainable levels. Watson doesn't want to restrict seal hunting to reasonable levels, he wants a worldwide ban on it.
More power to Watson for doing what he has to do to bring attention to the slaughter. He's doing the work the media dare not.
The media doesn't cover the seal hunt and try and portray it badly? Are you seriously claiming that?
Protesting the seal hunt is a business that brings in more revenue that the seal hunt actually does. It brings considerable revenue and power to groups such as the Sea Sheppard Society, and people like Watson. He himself is an egomaniac, drunk on power and influence.
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