Seal Hunt - Loyola Hearn, Fisheries Minister Canada threatens to bring charges on Sea Shepherd

[Annces]

Seal hunt protesters 'face charges'
6 hours ago

The Canadian government plans to bring charges against a conservation group which it said came too close to sealers as it protested against the country's annual hunt.

Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn announced in parliament that he would take legal action against the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and its vessel, the Farley Mowat, for allegedly breaking a law that requires them to maintain a specific distance from the hunt.

Mr Hearn said the vessel ventured too close to a group of fishermen as they hunted seals on ice floes north of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, on Sunday.

"We will not tolerate the reckless antics of the Sea Shepherd Society," he said.

Joshua Zanin, a spokesman for the minister, would not say what charges the conservation society could face or if any other action is being considered against the controversial group, which has a history of confrontations on the ice floes.

A Fisheries Department official said people who had an observation licence must remain 32ft from sealing operations, while those without a licence must remain a half a nautical mile away.

One sealer said the Farley Mowat, a 177ft long steel-hulled ship, came about within 98 feet of the much smaller sealing boat.

Paul Watson, president of the Sea Shepherd Society, has denied that the Farley Mowat got too close to the hunt. He dismissed the suggestion of charges, saying his vessel was Dutch-registered and did not have to submit to Canadian regulations.

"What Hearn's trying to do is to dissuade us from going back in those waters and that's not going to work," he said from his vessel in St Pierre-Miquelon, south of Newfoundland, where it is preparing to head out again to the hunt.

"Canada has no legal authority to dictate where we can navigate within those waters."

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5ipLhuCbpa0HkEefzz5JGcUljwIKA


(I wonder if the Canadian government can actually arrest the Sea Shepherd without proper legal backing. And the sealer who says they got too close, did they pay him to do this?)

[SteinbachMB]

1. Take that, SSCS.

Don't mess with us. We're Canada, and we're pissed!

[Sweet Pea]

2. Bombast from Watson.

If he is operating within Canadian territorial waters, of course he is subject to Canadian juristictions and laws. Even if the hunt is in territorial waters, if there are Canadian legal restrictions on how close Watson can come to other ships, those legal restrictions are "a priori" and must be respected from an international law perspective.

Watson is out of luck in this case.

[Annces]

3. The sealer who "alleges" Watson got too close

His name is Shane Briand.

""Shane Briand, a fisherman from Cape Breton, said he'll be following those new rules.

He said seal hunting is a messy job, but the money helps.

You can kill 500 animals in a day and you gotta start pelting all of them, and you got a lot of carcasses," said Briand, who works on one of two boats from Cape Breton that will head out to the icy waters off St. Paul's Island this weekend.

"It's a dirty job, but it makes a bit of income for me and helps repairs on the boat before we start our spring fishery."
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pancakejess/2355320995/#comment72157604288923699

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/409200


Come on Watson! This butchery should end.