Sea Shepard verður ekki um sel. Kanadíska löggæslan ræðst til uppgöngu í skip þeirra

Ég hef stundum gert grín að þeim Kanadabúum sem hafa lýst andstöðu sinni við hvalaveiðar, en slík andstaða er nokkuð algeng, alla vegna hér inn í miðju landi, en ég verð að viðurkenna að ég hef aldrei komið í "sjávarbyggðirnar" hér.

Ég hef auðvitað sagt þeim að ég hafi verið alinn upp á hvalkjöti (sem eru nokkrar ýkjur, en samt var hrefna nokkuð reglulega á borðum í mínu ungdæmi) og að það sé sjálfsagt og eðlilegt að veiða hvali og að stærsta selveiðiþjóð í heimi ætti að hafa á þvi fullan skilning, því hvoru tveggja séu eðlileg nýting á gæðum heimsins.

En ég ber hins vegar virðingu fyrir Kanadískum stjórnvöldum, sem láta öfgasinnaða umhverfisverndarsinna ekki vaða yfir sig.  Þau, eins og flestir aðrir Kanadamenn standa á sínu og finnst eðilegt að láta lög og reglu gilda, burt séð frá tilfinningahlöðnum mótbárum.

Þannig réðust Kanadísk yfirvöld til uppgöngu í skip Shea Sheppard í dag og tóku skipið yfir, sökum ólöglegst athæfis stjórnenda þess.  Um þetta má lesa í frétt Globe and Mail.

Þar má lesa m.a.:

" An RCMP emergency response team stormed a ship owned by a militant environmental group Saturday, seizing the vessel in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and arresting its senior officers for allegedly interfering with the East Coast seal hunt.

Paul Watson, head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said the provocative move amounted to an “act of war,” but federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said he had to act to protect hunters from a “bunch of money-sucking manipulators.”

Mr. Watson, speaking in an interview from New York, said armed officers from two coast guard vessels scrambled aboard the Farley Mowat at around 11 a.m. ADT in the Cabot Strait – the body of water between Cape Breton and Newfoundland.

“[They] took command of the vessel, and .... they were screaming at people to lie down on the deck.”

Mr. Watson said a communications officer aboard the ship was relaying details of the boarding via satellite phone when the connection was suddenly lost.

Mr. Hearn later confirmed the ship's captain and chief officer were arrested for violating Canada's marine mammal regulations.

“We did the right thing,” Mr. Hearn told a news conference in Ottawa.

“We will continue to protect sealers while ensuring the sustainable and humane management of the hunt, so it continues to provide economic opportunities for Canada's coastal communities.”

Last week, the department brought forward charges alleging the Farley Mowat's captain, Alexander Cornelissen, and First Officer Peter Hammarstedt broke rules that prohibit anyone without a valid observation licence from coming within 900 metres of the hunt.

Mr. Cornelissen is also charged with obstruction or hindrance of a Fishery Officer or inspector."

"“This is just more mouthy talk by people who want to use this to their advantage,” Mr. Hearn said. “Paul Watson is quarterbacking from his nice, posh hotel room in New York somewhere.”

The minister said the boarding was necessary because the crew of the Mowat had been asked on numerous occasions to “cease and desist” their activities and to head to port.

He said the RCMP asked permission to board the vessel, but were refused.

Canada was “well within its rights to board the vessel and to prevent future harm to sealers, fisheries officers and permitted observers,” he said.

“The enforcement actions were done legally.”

A spokesman for the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs at The Hague, Netherlands, said his government was attempting to learn more about the incident.

“For the moment, we are still verifying the facts, and seeking the opinion of the Canadian authorities and how they justify their acts of today,” said Ahmed Dadou.

In Ottawa, Mr. Hearn noted that the crew of the Mowat were “safe and unharmed” following the boarding, and their vessel would be taken to Sydney, N.S., by early Sunday.

Those charged were expected to appear in a Sydney court.

Mr. Watson said the conservation group had been filming seals being slaughtered and he believes the footage will be damaging to Canada, particularly as the European Union considers a ban on the import of all seal products.

“I think we've embarrassed the hell out of the Canadian government and they're desperate,” he said. “Quite frankly, I think Loyola Hearn has made a very, very bad mistake because this is going to blow up in Europe.”

Mr. Hearn said the seizure had nothing to do with censorship.

“That is simply not true. We have had numerous requests for observer permits, people who've been ... on the ice within 30 feet of our sealers and I believe we have processed every application we had.”

The minister also insisted the move was not aimed at boosting the federal Conservatives' flagging fortunes in his home province of Newfoundland.

“It is time something was done and something has been done and it has nothing to do with Newfoundland or what kind of shape we're in. This won't affect me politically one way or another,” he said.

Meanwhile, the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, is awaiting a second report on the seal hunt before making its recommendation to the European Parliament, likely this summer."

"On March 30, some seal hunters called for assistance from the coast guard, complaining that the Farley Mowat was getting to close to them on the ice floes about 60 kilometres north of Cape Breton.

The Fisheries Department later said its 98-metre icebreaker Des Groseilliers responded to the scene and was “grazed” twice by the 54-metre Farley Mowat.

But the conservation group said its ship was rammed twice by the icebreaker.

The crew aboard the Mowat said they were told by the coast guard not to approach an ice-covered area where seals were being slaughtered, but the crew did not comply with the order.

On April 5, Mr. Hearn said charges had been laid, but he did not say how or when the summonses would be served.

The charges, brought forward in Nova Scotia, could result in fines of up to $100,000 or up to one year in prison, or both.

The captain of the Cape Breton sealing vessel who called for help said the arrests were long overdue.

“It's time, it's high time, it's past time that they did something with them,” said Pat Briand of Dingwall, N.S., the 55-year-old skipper of the Cathy Erlene."

"To be sure, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Fisheries Department are no strangers to confrontation on the water.

On March 9, 1995, as Spain and Canada were locked in an emotional battle over the overfishing of turbot just beyond Canadian waters, the coast guard patrol vessel Cape Roger intercepted the Spanish trawler Estai, which cut its nets and fled.

After a lengthy pursuit, the crew of the Cape Roger fired four bursts from .50-calibre machine gun across the bow of the Estai, which then stopped and was seized by RCMP and Fisheries officers.

As well, Fisheries officers routinely track and board foreign fishing vessels far off Canada's coasts to enforce international fisheries rules.

About two-thirds of this year's catch limit of 275,000 harp seals can be taken during the hunt north of Newfoundland.

But federal officials say low pelt prices and soaring fuel costs have made the hunt a money-losing proposition for many sealers. That means the total catch this season is expected to be far below the limit.

Pelt prices have dropped to about $33 this year from an average of $65 last year."

Það er eðllegt og sjálfsagt að láta öfga umhverfisverndarsinna vita að sömu lög gilda um þá og aðra.  Kanadíska ríkisstjórnin hlýtur því að ganga fram og vernda þegna sína við löglega atvinnustarfsemi.  Nú er bara að sjá hvert framhaldið verður.