RCMP Watch

(CTV.ca News Staff) - Seal hunt protesters are accusing the RCMP of an act of piracy after Mounties armed with machine guns stormed their ship on the weekend.

Black-clad officers bearing submachine guns came aboard Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s ship Farley Mowat on Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, two weeks after seal hunters accused the protesters of coming too close.

The ship has also had several run-ins with a Canadian Coast Guard vessel enforcing seal hunt observer limits.

The ship’s captain and chief officer are accused of steering the Mowat to within 900 metres of the hunt, an offence under federal regulations unless an observer’s permit has been issued.

The pair has been granted bail and their case is back before the courts May 1. They are expected to face charges under federal marine mammal regulations and the Fisheries Act.

Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, said crew members were treated like criminals despite having done nothing wrong. He maintains the ship was in international waters and the RCMP had no right to board the ship.

“They harassed our crew, they injured one of our crew, then they took them in. They weren’t charged but they haven’t been returned their possessions, so that’s an act of piracy,” Watson told CTV’s Canada AM on Monday.

“You come on board their vessel with arms, then you steal their property and you put them out on the street — I mean it’s uncalled for.”

Watson maintains the crew was simply observing the hunt and recording what he described as “inhumane” tactics.

The RCMP, however, maintains the boarding was a routine operation taken against a ship that was in violation of the law, and claims of physical abuse are false.

Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn backed that up, saying the Dutch-registered vessel didn’t have a permit required to come close to the hunt, and violated the 900-metre limit for vessels not granted observer status.

“The whole thing is pretty interesting,” Hearn told Canada AM.

“First of all (Watson) said they were coming peacefully to film the hunt and we wouldn’t allow that. We have issued 75 permits this year to allow people to come within 30 feet of the hunt to observe.”

Hearn said Watson, who wasn’t on the ship at the time it was boarded, is “getting very personally defensive” because the federal government is exposing his group’s aggressive tactics.

The fisheries minister said Canada has cracked down on international piracy, and the Sea Shepherd group can expect to face repercussions when the law is broken.

But he maintained Canada has nothing against conservation groups who with to peacefully observe the controversial hunt.

“Come and observe, participate. We love to see tourists come to Canada, certainly in Newfoundland and Labrador, but not to come and disrupt,” he said.

“Observing is one thing, disrupting is something else. It’s like the old days in Dodge before Wyatt Earp. Well this is the new Dodge Mr. Watson and welcome to Canada and welcome to the New Dodge City.”