Confrontation Breaks Out Over East Coast Seal Hunt

The Canadian government traded accusations with a militant environmental group Monday after a collision between a coast guard icebreaker and a ship owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society on the third day of the annual East Coast seal hunt.

The coast guard said the Arctic-class icebreaker Des Groseilliers was “grazed” twice Sunday by the 54-metre Farley Mowat about 60 kilometres north of Cape Breton as the protest ship closed in on some seal hunters.

But the society’s controversial leader countered, saying its much smaller ship was struck twice by the 98-metre icebreaker.

“It rammed the stern end of the Farley Mowat and when the Farley Mowat was stopped, it came back and hit them again,” Paul Watson, head of the society, said from Los Angeles. “It was twice, so it was intentional.”

The Fisheries Department, which oversees the coast guard, rejected those claims, calling them “absolutely false” and part of a strategy by the international conservation group to besmirch the coast guard.

“The Farley Mowat approached the Des Groseilliers and brushed up against the side of the vessel.” spokesman Phil Jenkins said from Charlottetown.

Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn later issued a statement suggesting the Farley Mowat was trying to provoke a confrontation.

“This organization is known to use this tactic to generate photo opportunities, which generate publicity and bolster their fundraising efforts — an action I find despicable,” he said in a release.

The crew aboard the Farley Mowat said they were told by the coast guard not to approach an ice-covered area where seals were being slaughtered, but the crew did not comply with the order.

The captain of the Farley Mowat, Alex Cornelissen, said the two vessels were on a parallel course and the coast guard ship steered into the Mowat’s port side, hitting the vessel a second time with icebreaker’s stern.

He conceded that the collision may have been unintentional, but maintained that the course taken by the icebreaker was unsafe.

“They clearly came way too close to us,” he said from the vessel. “I believe it was just a navigational error, either that or it was a deliberate ramming.”

Cornelissen said a railing and the side of the vessel were damaged, while crew were shaken by what he said was a “big bang” when the collision occurred.

The Sea Shepherd Society and previous incarnations have long used militant tactics to stop hunters from killing seals, whales and other marine wildlife.

The group claims to have sunk six whaling ships since 1979, saying no one was hurt in those actions.

In 1979, for example, Watson’s boat was seized by Portugal after he rammed a whaling boat. When Portugal decided to convert the boat to a whaler, he sank it.

During the 1980s, he harassed Russian whaling ships and Japanese dolphin hunters. In the mid-80s, he was tear gassed off the Faroe Islands when he tried to stop the sport kill of pilot whales.

In 1995, he scuffled with an angry mob of angry sealers on Iles-de-la-Madeleine when he went there to stage a protest with actor Martin Sheen.

To be sure, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Fisheries Department are no strangers to confrontation on the water.

On March 9, 1995, as Spain and Canada were locked in an emotional battle over the overfishing of turbot just beyond Canadian waters, the coast guard patrol vessel Cape Roger intercepted the Spanish trawler Estai, which cut its nets and fled.

After a lengthy pursuit, the crew of the Cape Roger fired four bursts from .50-calibre machine gun across the bow of the Estai, which then stopped and was seized by RCMP and Fisheries officers.

In August 2000, aboriginal fishermen and federal Fisheries Department patrol vessels wheeled, circled and, in one case, crashed into each other in Miramichi Bay as a dispute flared up about federal regulations.

The Sea Shepherd Society’s allegations Monday came just two days after six sealers from Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Que., were thrown into the water after their small boat capsized as they were being towed by the icebreaker Sir William Alexander.

The bodies of three hunters were pulled from the overturned boat and a fourth was missing and presumed drowned.

One of the two survivors from the 12-metre L’Acadien II said the coast guard vessel pulled the boat onto a truck-size ice pan early Saturday, flipping the vessel into icy waters of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Witnesses said the crew aboard the Sir William Alexander weren’t monitoring the tow as they plowed through thick ice north of Cape Breton at 1:30 a.m.

Several agencies, including the RCMP, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and Transport Canada, have said they will investigate the incident.

Sealers and the mayor of Iles-de-la-Madeleine have asked for a public inquiry, but Hearn said Monday that he would instead appoint an independent person to lead the coast guard review.

He said the results of the investigations will be made public.

The captain of the overturned fishing boat, Bruno Bourque, and sealers Gilles Leblanc and Marc-Andre Deraspe died in the accident.

The coast guard ended the active search for the missing man, Carl Aucoin, late Saturday.

A Harp seal pup lays on an ice floe March 31, 2008 in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence near Charlottetown, Canada. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)