Ocean Warriors Confront Lucian Fishermen

by Earl Bousquet

July 23, 2001 - The International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting got under way in London Monday morning, while fishermen in Eastern Caribbean islands expressed fear for their lives and concern about their safety at sea.

The St. Lucia Fisheries Department has confirmed receiving several reports from local fishermen over the weekend claiming they were intercepted in St. Lucia’s territorial waters by a foreign registered vessel dedicated to sinking fishing boats engaged in whaling around the world.

            The “Ocean Warrior”, flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has been moored in the Castries Harbour since July 18, confirms on its website that two of its inflatable launches moved to intercept the first set of local fishermen on the evening of July 19.

At the time, the local fishermen, who operate their small craft from out of the Sans Soucis fishermen’s landing near the Fisheries Department and the Castries Fisheries Complex, were plying their trade in St. Lucia’s territorial waters.

            The anti-whaling group claimed its “crew was threatened with a knife.”

But the local fishermen say it was they who feared for their lives on the high seas as a result the extreme actions of the Sea Shepherd crew.

            The Fisheries Department says the complaining fishermen claimed they were “harassed and threatened” by the crew of the Sea Shepherd.

There are also reports that the ship daily dispatches its inflatable dinghies to follow and intercept the local fishermen as they go about their fishing expeditions.

            A spokesman for the Castries-based fishermen says they “resent being harassed by a foreign craft in our own country’s territorial waters.”

The local fishermen explained that they fish for Pilot Whales -- better known in St. Lucia as “Mashwen” – as well as for other non-endangered species such as Porpoises.

According to the spokesman for the complaining group: “We are fishing for Mashwen, which are not on the international endangered species list.

“This type of fishing is allowed by the International Whaling Commission and other international fisheries bodies.

“We have been doing this for years and years. The Americans catch them too and throw them back dead into the water after the have been trapped in their nets.”

The Fisheries Department has also confirmed that local fishermen are constantly being kept aware of those species of whales and cetaceans that can be harvested in accordance with international rules.

            But the Sea Shepherd’s Captain and crew insist that no whale species should be harvested and say they will intercept any boat in any part of the world that engages in fishing of any species, endangered or not.

The Ocean Warrior’s Captain, Paul Watson, says his ship will patrol the waters of the Eastern Caribbean during the meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in London, which began Monday.

He was vague as to what actions his ship intends to take against fishermen from the six Eastern Caribbean governments that have traditionally voted with Japan for a resumption of commercial whaling of various species of whales on a sustainable basis.

His evasiveness in this regard has caused quite some concern among local fishermen, with similar fears being expressed by fishermen from neighbouring islands since the news broke of the Sea Shepherd’s interceptions in St. Lucian waters.

The Sea Shepherd Society and its founder have a history of extreme and sometime violent actions in pursuit of their stated aim of preventing fishermen around the world from hunting for whales.

Watson boasts that his ship has sunk eight vessels involved in fishing for whales around the world.

Watson founded the Sea Shepherd organization in 1977 after he was expelled from the Greenpeace conservation organization because his extreme actions caused it to lose its tax exemption status in the USA.

A former President of the Sea Shepherd group, Scott Trimmingham, also resigned from the group in 1991 after he accused it of resorting to use of weapons and endangering lives of persons involved in fishing for whales around the world.

Watson has made it clear that Sea Shepherd’s target in the case of St. Lucia is the island’s vital tourism sector, with a view to seriously reducing the number of visitors by painting an image of St. Lucia overseas as a nation of whale killers.

A History of Extremism

  The Sea Shepherd Society has a long history of extremist actions in pursuit of its stated aim of preventing fishermen around the world from hunting for whales of any kind. Since it was founded by Watson 24 years ago, it has chalked-up a string of attacks on whaling vessels around the world.

·          In 1979, a Sea Shepherd vessel rammed a whaling boat called “Sierra” but didn’t succeed in sinking it.

·          A year later (1980) Sea Shepherd claimed responsibility for the sinking of the “Sierra” using limpet mined in the harbour of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal.

·          In 1981, Sea Shepherd claimed responsibility for sinking another two whaling boats, the “Ibsa I” and “Ibsa II” in the Spanish port of Viga.

·          In 1986, Sea Shepherd activists shot at Faroese police and tried to sink their rubber dinghies after being ordered to leave the harbour for trying to prevent or obstruct the annual Faroses Pilot Whale harvest.

·          Also in 1986, Sea Shepherd claimed responsibility for the sinking of two whaling vessels in Reykjavik, Iceland and for causing malicious damage to a whaling station not far from the famous Icelandic town. Captain Watson has since been declared persona non grata in Iceland.

·          In 1991, an American crew member of a Mexican fishing vessel reported that a Sea Shepherd vessel rammed their vessel and caused it considerable damage after Sea Shepherd crew members boarded the fishing boat armed with rifles.

·          In 1992, Sea Shepherd vessels made unsuccessful attempts at ramming three Costa Rican vessels, shooting at the crew with bullets containing a red substance.

·          In 1993, Sea Shepherd made an unsuccessful attempt at scuttling the combined Minke whaling and fishing vcessel “Nybraena” while moored in the Lofoten islands.

·          Also in 1993, Captain Watson ordered the crew of the Sea Shepherd vessel “Edward Abbey” (a former US Navy vessel) to open cannon fire at a Japanese fishing vessel. Yet another unsuccessful attempt was made to scuttle the combined Minke whaling and fishing vessel “Senet” while moored at the port of Gressvik. By the end of that year, Sea Shepherd claimed it had sunk eight ships and rammed and damaged a further six.

·                In November 1998, four Sea Shepherd members were arrested after provoking an incident with the Makah Indians of Washington state who were about to resume hunting of Grey Whales at an internationally approved rate of two of those particular species of whales per year for four years. The Sea Shepherd’s anti-whaling activists had anchored near the Makah Indian Reservation’s harbour for over a month and moved in to engage in physical violence against the tribal fishermen on the day they were to resume a centuries-old tradition that had been halted in 1920 when that species almost became extinct.

·                In September 2000, Captain Watson was found guilty by a court in the Faroe Islands for violation of immigration laws and illegal entry into Faroese waters. The Danish Government supports the right of the Faroese fishermen to fish for Pilot Whales. But like is the case in St. Lucia, Pilot Whales are not on the endangered species list protected by European and International Law.

Expelled From the IWC

After the sinking of the Icelandic whaling vessels in 1986, Sea Shepherd lost its status as an observer at the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

In February of 1994, IWC Secretary Ray Gambell reiterated – after Sea Shepherd claimed it was merely enforcing IWC rules – that “the IWC and all its members ardently condemn Sea Shepherd’s acts of terrorism.”

Use of Weapons

Apart from Caribbean fishermen fearing for their lives, security officials are also said to be concerned about Sea Shepherd’s use of weapons during its protests.

Watson admits there are arms aboard Sea Shepherd vessels.

In April 1992, he told the Los Angeles Times: “We confront dangerous people…I have prepared myself for the responsibility of defending my crew… I will use firearms, fist to intimidate and then to defend.”

Deliberate Provocations

But Watson and Sea Shepherd’s long-standing tactic of provoking incidents and claiming self-defense have not gone altogether un-noticed.

Seattle Times columnist Alston Chase wrote ten years ago on July 1, 1991: “The business of Sea Shepherd is confrontation, whereby these sailor activists try to provoke others to attack. Crying self-defense in these circumstances is like the gunfighter who starts a quarrel to justify dueling his enemy.”

Watson’s engagement in anti-whaling terrorism and other extremist actions have not only got him in trouble with Greenpeace and several governments. It has also brought strong reaction from top members of his organization.

Following the resort to increasing use of weapons and harming persons in 1991 during the anti whaling campaigns, Scott Trimmingham, the then President of Sea Shepherd, quit the organization in protest at its use of weapons during its protests.

Trimmingham said then: “We had rules about not hurting anyone, about not using weapons. I left because those rules and that philosophy seems to be changing.”

Sea Shepherd activists have made it clear they intend to pressure St. Lucia and other OECS governments during the IWC meeting, which begins in London July 23. They have also indicated they intend to carry out an international campaign to prevent tourists visiting the islands, in a bid to damage their increasing dependence on tourism.

Watson told a local reporter on July 20 that the islands should vote against Japan’s pro-whaling positions at the London IWC meeting to see whether they (the Japanese) will continue giving aid to the islands.

But government officials and fisheries officers in the islands insist they vote on the basis of scientific information.

“Our position on whaling is consistent with our stated policy of promoting sustainable use of our natural resources,” says a top Fisheries Department official here.

“We vote on the basis of the scientific information presented by the Scientific Committee of the IWC and that’s how we’ll vote this year,” the official said.

The Sea Shepherd organization advocates a complete ban on fishing of all species of whales and other cetaceans. However, the Scientific Committee of the IWC has demonstrated that the world’s stock of Minke whales – of which Japan is allowed to harvest fifty per year – is both abundant and robust, with over 750,000 such whales catalogued.

In the case of the Pilot Whales, Fisheries Department officials say they are even more abundant and in no way considered by the IWC to be threatened or endangered.

Now that Sea Shepherd has taken its extreme forms of protest to St. Lucia and other OECS territorial waters, many fishermen and fisheries officials are questioning whether the Ocean Warrior will proceed to attack and sink vessels fishing for the non-protected and non-endangered species that have been hunted and consumed in this part of the world for many decades.

However, this is one question Captain Watson, his extreme society and the crew of the Ocean Warrior have so steered very clear of answering.

Related

[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Search for 2001 Press Releases ] [Site Help]

© 2001 Government Information Service. All rights reserved.

Read our privacy guidelines.