Sea Shepherd judged to have committed acts of piracy

[Macktheknife]

Agree with most of what Lovey80 says.
I don't care if it's whales or toadfish. If Australia has a claim on this area of water, we should be defending it.
We dont have to send warships (Hell, we probably dont have any) but we should have a Navy presence there, peacefully but firmly applying pressure to the Japanese whalers (or anyone else) to depart our declared waters.
Continue the pressure on the international court & lets stop being a plaything/non entity for the self proclaimed global giants.
Whether you agree with the policy or not, at least NZ has the guts to put their money where their mouth is internationally.

[deckie]

Zero empathy for these types.
Its a left over from a bygone battle. The war was won, but the money is always there to fund their chosen lifestyle...which a bunch of aging radicals have indoctrinated into people.
There's always limp dick green money to "save the whales" even now when they've been saved. If one or two countries take a declining catch each season its just not a bloody issue at all.
Fewer and fewer are taken regardless of the propaganda the career greenies like to preach. Japs eat less every yr and its just horseshit scaremongering that somehow we need to be "vigilant" or any of that shit.
Its a living that relies upon attention seeking to gain funding so they can do it all again...say the word "whale" and the tax deductible funds flow.
Make sure they arnt a deductible donation coz they arnt doing a bloody thing except to self perpetuate.
If the Japs want to take some whales each year so be it or limit it to one or two common species only which as far as i'm aware is how it works now anyway....abuse it and we can address it then.

Bloody pirates alright...very lucky to date the jap whalers havent got serious whilst under attack.

[no chicken tonight]

Bunch of hypocrites! It's not ok to hunt whale, as they have done for centuries, but it's ok to kill marlin for sport only to dump it in the ocean after its weighed? Would u change ur view if sea shepprd rammed game boats fishing in comps? Sea Shepard are terrorists, and should be blown out of the water(pref when b brown is on board)

[honda900]

Its an Australian boat defending its territory/country from foreign boats illegally fishing in our waters and your on there side? Real aussie..

If they want to do it in there own territory go for gold, not that i like the idea, its illegal to do it here so rack off.

Ranga,

where do you get that info that sea sheppard is an Australian registered vessel?

In January 2007, the ship was struck from the British Ship Register after a Japanese request.[6] The ship has been registered in the Netherlands as of October 8, 2007.

Accourding to this information the British de-registered the ship, Given we are part of the commonwealth I suspect we would not allow that to occur here and appart from that, the captain of the ship is Canadian.

Regards
Honda

[honda900]

And this is not the act of pirates..


The first direct action undertaken by Sea Shepherd was against Canadian seal hunting in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in March 1979.[15][16] Also in 1979, the group made headlines when, for the first time, they rammed a whaling vessel[17], the notorious pirate whaling vessel Sierra.[13] Such acts continued with Sea Shepherd claiming responsibility for damaging or sinking multiple whaling vessels through sabotage or ramming. The group has attempted to intervene against Russian, Spanish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Makah, Faroese, and Japanese whalers in multiple campaigns around the globe.[2][6] Setting a pattern that the group would keep up in later years, the group managed to scuttle a Portuguese whaling vessel, though the first Sea Shepherd was impounded and lost. Watson says that he used the money gained from selling the story rights to fund his next vessel.[6]




Regards
Honda.

[Crunchy]

To those who have been calling their activities illegal, it looks like that is incorrect and in fact it appears they have a mandate from the UN to act in the manner they do (See below).

Also many of you seem to be confusing Sea Shepherd with PETA, there is some faulty logic in inferring that if they win on the whale issue our own recreational fishing will be under threat next....I don't buy this argument, I can't see anything on Sea Shepherds agenda that would indicate they have the same objectives as say PETA."Environmentalism" covers a broad range of views and activities, some are potentially legitimate (Like this organisation IMO) or totally wacko like PETA, do not to let your rage about extremist green groups cloud your judgment about moderate conservationists that may be working towards a just cause.

I have travelled to Japan at least 20 times, I have been from north to south and east to west, there is very little whale meat marketed for consumption, not because there is a shortage but because there is little demand, in fact I have only ever met one Japanese who indicated that he liked it, it's certainly not a key part of their diet (Unlike tuna) or part of their "culture", they have so much of it in frozen storage(6,000 tonnnes in 2010) they are trying to convince school kids to eat it to get rid of it all...the argument about "National eating habits" is a farce, it’s about pride and bloody mindedness.....not good reasons for entering international whale sanctuary’s and slaughtering them.

One last point, whales are not fish they are mammals, the hunting is not without a significant element of cruelty...the death can be very slow...there are plenty of vid's on YouTube if you’reinterested...

A quote from Wikipedia to put Japan's view of whaling into perspective....given this kind of attitude I think its damn lucky that Sea Shepherd are doing what they are doing.

I am firmly convinced that we shall become one of the greatest whaling nations in the world. The whaling grounds around Korea and Japan offer unlimited possibilities, and should stocks of whales, contrary to expectations, fail in those areas, we have the Sea of Okhotsk and the Berring Sea to the north and we are aware of the great treasure houses to the south. The day will come when we shall hear one morning that whales have been caught in the Arctic and in the evening that whales are being hunted in the Antarctic.[19]
Juro Oka – The father of modern Japanese whaling, 1910

In other words we'll hunt them here, when they run out we will hun them in the north, when they run out....so it's 100 years later...now we'll hunt them the whale sanctury's (And Australian territorial waters)...tell me that these people are not a threat to whale extinction? Remeber they are forever trying to buy votes on the IWC in overturning the current ban on commercial whailing.

International Laws and Charters (Taken from Sea Shepherd website)

• Sea Shepherd campaigns are guided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature. Sections 21-24 of the Charter provides authority to individuals to act on behalf of and enforce international conservation laws.
• Sea Shepherd cooperates fully with all international law enforcement agencies and its enforcement activities complying with standard practices of law and policing enforcement.
• Sea Shepherd adheres to the utilization of non-violent principles in the course of all actions and has taken a standard against violence in the protection of the oceans.
• The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is dedicated to working towards cooperative agreements between nations to protect species and habitats according to SSCS Mandate.

Mandate

Sea Shepherd's primary mandate is toassume a law enforcement role as provided by the United Nations World Charter for Nature.

This charter was adopted by theUnited Nation's General Assembly on November 9, 1982.

Sea Shepherd is guided by the UNWorld Charter for Nature and cites Section 21 under the heading ofImplementations as the Society's authority to act on behalf of international conservation law.

World Charter for Nature:Implementations

21. States and, to the extent theyare able, other public authorities, international organizations, individuals,groups and corporations shall:

(a) Co-operate in the task ofconserving nature through common activities and other relevant actions,including information exchange and consultations

(b) Establish standards for productsand other manufacturing processes that may have adverse effects on nature, aswell as agreed methodologies for assessing these effects

(c) Implement the applicableinternational legal provisions for the conservation of nature and theprotection of the environment

(d) Ensure that activities withintheir jurisdictions or control do not cause damage to the natural systemslocated within other States or in the areas beyond the limits of nationaljurisdiction

(e) Safeguard and conserve nature inareas beyond national jurisdiction

22. Taking fully into account thesovereignty of States over their natural resources, each State shall giveeffect to the provisions of the present Charter through its competent organsand in co-operation with other States.

23. All persons, in accordance withtheir national legislation, shall have the opportunity to participate,individually or with others, in the formulation of decisions of direct concernto their environment, and shall have access to means of redress when theirenvironment has suffered damage or degradation.

24. Each person has a duty to act inaccordance with the provisions of the present Charter, acting individually, inassociation with others or through participation in the political process, eachperson shall strive to ensure that the objectives and requirements of the presentCharter are met.

[cobiaman]

So crunchy, is it legal to ram other boats?

Is it legal for them to jump onto the japanese boat, and then call up every media outlet to say that they have been kidnapped???

Bunch of cowboys who are probably as bad as PETA, if not worse...

[Crunchy]

I've said all I'm going to say, would like to attend a M&G one day and not have to worry about lynched by the angry mob!

[fin101]

I wonder just how many of these whales would be left if it wasn't for those redneck sea shepherd dopes. Sink every whaler you can in my view, then sink that magris with Geen on deck.

[honda900]

Peta and the whale wars, http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/a...d/default.aspx there is no confusion.
http://www.seashepherd.org.au/news-a...al-rights-1463

SSCS Mandate. is made up by a bunch of pirates to justify what they are doing, not relevant, not law, not anything..

As for the other BS, keen to see which international law overides the maritme law that says that piracy is an acceptable tactic.

In all I dont agree with the wholesale destruction and pillage of the whales, however we do need to respect the law.

Some nations have had whaling as part of there culture/ history for a very long time. If the international law permits those countries to their Native rights then, that is there soveriegn right.

Sea sheppard and PETA do not have the right to endanger peoples lives -- NO EXCUSE.

Regards
Honda.

[Boat Hog]

I've said all I'm going to say, would like to attend a M&G one day and not have to worry about lynched by the angry mob!

I'll bring the Rope .................................................. ..... so we can raft up the boats and enjoy a beverage while the sun goes down.

[Gazza]

Sink them(SS).....they're pirates...plain 'n simple
p.s. jail chief pilot in the inards of a SPERM whale for 10yrs. , i'll buy his book in 10yrs....and chuck it in the carbon-fired fireplace....pronto

[Moonlighter]

Crunchy would be aware of the Japanese psyche, given his many visits there.

"Face" is very important to the Japanese. Its kind of like pride, but it is more than that, it is also about obligation to family, friends, the boss. It is very important to Japanese not to cause other Japanese people in particular to lose "face". And it is even more important that they are not perceived to lose face themselves, individually or as a nation, because someone else forces them to do or not do something.

I think this is the main reason they are continuing with the hunt these days, despite it being unprofitable etc. They do not want to lose face. The more we push them, the more they push back, because to concede to international demands would be an admission that they have been doing something wrong and that would cause a loss of face.

Its not unlike catching AJ's: the heavier gear you use to fish for them and the more drag pressure you put on the buggers, the harder they pull and the more determined they get to put you in the reef. But, play them easy, go gentle, and its surprising how many you can get to the boat on amazingly light gear.

I have a theory that if the rest of the world was just to shut up and stopped demanding the Japanese bow to our wills on this issue, then within a few years their whaling program would quietly be closed down by the Japanese themselves. If it was seen to be a decision they made themselves, for their own reasons, they will save face, and may even gain face in the eyes of their people.

And the more Japanese tourists that visit places like Australia and go whale watching, the quiet pressure within the country will continue to rise.

[fin101]

Yes losing face is very important to them, so much so it took them up until a few years ago to admit to the babarity they perpetrated on prisoners of war. Perhaps they place a little too much importance regarding losing face that they loose sight of other things .They play dirty pool in the courts and summits and so does the sea shepherd at sea.

[netmaker]

ramming another boat at sea is irresponsible and dangerous.