N.S. court grants bail to anti-sealing activists

A Nova Scotia judge granted bail to the captain and first officer of the Farley Mowat on Sunday, a day after the anti-sealing vessel was seized by the RCMP in the Cabot Strait west of Newfoundland.

Despite the decision, Capt. Alex Cornelissen and First Mate Peter Hammarstedt will spend Sunday night in jail while they wait for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which operates their vessel, to post a cash bond of $5,000 for each of them.

The two appeared in court to face charges of violating the Fisheries Act and Canada's marine mammal regulations.

They're accused of being in Canadian waters and interfering with the seal hunt after a confrontation with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker two weeks ago. The charges could result in fines of up to $100,000 or up to one year in jail, or both.

Their vessel, the Farley Mowat, was boarded on Saturday by RCMP officers, working with officials from the federal Fisheries Department and the coast guard who have been monitoring the hunt.

A few dozen people gathered along the waterfront in Sydney on Sunday morning as two tugboats guided the vessel to the wharf.

The captain and first officer are expected to appear in court again on May 1, their lawyer Guy LaFosse said.

Six other crew members who were detained and interviewed by immigration officials and were released on Sunday.

Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said crew members were waiting in a local hotel, waiting to hear whether the Farley Mowat would be released.

Watson said the seizure and arrests amount to an "act of war" because the ship is registered in the Netherlands and was in international waters.

"You can't board a foreign-registered vessel on the high seas," Watson told the Cape Breton Post on his way to Sydney. "It's an act of piracy."

However, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn said the arrests were made within Canadian waters. At a news conference after the raid, he said the officers had stopped "a bunch of money-sucking manipulators" from interfering with the hunt.

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," he said.

The minister said officers boarded the anti-sealing vessel after the ship ignored orders to go to port.

"It's a very, very dangerous situation, and of course if anything happened we would get the blame for not acting," Hearn said.

Despite Hearn's assertion that Canada acted within its jurisdiction, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans has confirmed that on March 29, one day after the hunt started, Foreign Affairs issued a diplomatic note to the Netherlands requesting help dealing with the Farley Mowat "as it is flying a Dutch flag."

A Dutch foreign ministry spokesman said the department is looking into the matter.

Tense moments as officers board ship

A crew member who was aboard the Farley Mowat described a tense scene as the RCMP emergency response team boarded the ship.

David Jonas of New Hampshire told the Canadian Press that the 17 or so crew members were forced to lie on the deck and some were handcuffed once aboard a Canadian Coast Guard vessel.

He said they were told they would all face charges, but in the end only the captain and first officer were charged.

Jonas said the crew planned to stage a hunger strike until the two are released.