2 crew members arrested as anti-sealing vessel seized

Fisheries officers seized a ship used in a protest against the seal hunt off the west coast of Newfoundland on Saturday to have its captain and first officer arrested, federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn has confirmed.

Hearn said the two crew members of the Farley Mowat, owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, violated Canadian marine mammal regulations.

"The crew of the vessel is safe and unharmed," he said, adding the crew will be taken to Sydney, N.S., arriving by midnight or early Sunday. A court appearance will be scheduled for the captain and first officer, but no date was given.

The Farley Mowat was expected to arrive in Sydney around 4 a.m. Sunday. It will be released to Transport Canada for a safety inspection, Hearn said. 

The minister said the safety and security of the sealers is the government's main focus and the seizing of the vessel will ensure a safe and orderly seal hunt.

Last week, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans announced it would lay charges against the captain and first officer of the anti-sealing vessel, alleging they threatened a coast guard vessel by getting too close to seal hunters.

Officers in boarding parties from two coast guard ships approached the Farley Mowat around 11 a.m. local time in the Cabot Strait on Saturday, according to Paul Watson, head of the conservation society.

Hearn described it as a joint operation carried out by his department, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Mounties. However, only members of an RCMP emergency response team boarded the ship and detained crew members.

Speaking in an interview from New York, Watson told CBC News that the two icebreakers dispatched four inflatable boats, carrying armed officers.

Boarding called  'act of war'

Watson said he was on the phone to one of the crew members of the Farley Mowat as officers took command of the vessel. He said they were "screaming at people to lie down on the deck.

"They stormed the vessel. They forced everyone down on to the deck at gunpoint. I could hear the yelling in the background, and then the phone went dead. It's obvious that they seized the vessel, and they did so illegally.

"The Dutch-registered Farley Mowat never entered Canadian waters," Watson maintained. "It was always in international waters, and it’s technically an act of war to board a vessel outside the 12-mile [19 kilometres] limit without the permission of the captain."

However, Hearn said the Farley Mowat was within Canadian territorial waters.

"Canada was well within its rights to board the ship and prevent future harm to sealers, fisheries officer and permanent observers," he said. "We did the right thing."

Final phase of seal hunt begins

The confrontation occurred as the final phase of the East Coast seal hunt opened in an area north of Newfoundland known as the Front.

Larry Yetman, a spokesperson with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said half the number of vessels reported in the Gulf of Lawrence hunt last year are involved this time around.

The drop in the number is even greater in the Front, he said.

"Right now we're looking at 120 vessels, and last year I think there was 403, so you can see there's been a reduction in participation this year," Yetman said.

Fishermen have said the rising cost of fuel and the fact that they'll only be getting $35 a pelt — down from an average of $65 last year — are deterring many from heading out.

The hunt opened in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Friday for western Newfoundland. Yetman said conditions were tough, with strong winds, snow and not that many seals