因搜證加拿大聖羅倫斯灣海豹獵捕行動而遭到逮捕的2名船員，13日經雪梨法院裁定獲准保釋。加拿大皇家騎警隊與海岸防衛隊12日以加拿大漁業暨海洋部的名義，登上海洋看守保育協會(Shepherd Conservation Society)在荷蘭註冊的船隻莫瓦號(Farley Mowat )。
海洋看守保育協會創辦人瓦特森(Paul Watson)表示，當這些黑色騎警揮舞著衝鋒槍登上船時，莫瓦號正停在公海上，不屬於加拿大政府的管轄範圍。這些警察扣押了船隻並以違反加拿大漁業法為由，逮捕全體船員。
莫瓦號荷蘭藉船長科尼利森(Alexander Cornelissen)及副船長漢馬斯德(Peter Hammarstedt )13日出庭接受審判，因將船隻駛入海豹狩獵活動範圍900公尺內而遭到起訴，除非觀察行動有取得授權許可，否則此項行為就違反了海洋哺乳動物法規(marine mammal regulations )，但莫瓦號並未取得授權。船長科尼利森及副船長漢馬斯德每人需繳交5000美元才能獲得交保。
瓦特森在雪梨表示，現年86歲的加拿大作家莫瓦(Farley Mowat)，莫瓦號即以其名而取，已捐助1萬美元讓兩位船員得以交保。兩位船員預計將在14日保釋出獄，而罪名一旦成立，他們將可能被判處1年以上有期徒刑及併科罰金10萬美元。
瓦特森在雪梨向CTV新聞指出，這艘荷蘭註冊船隻上的船員，記錄了加拿大獵捕海豹的行動，並取得海豹獵人將小海豹活生生脫皮的影片，這些資料屆時將送交歐洲議會，決定是否頒佈加拿大海豹相關產品的進口禁令。
瓦特森自1970年代中期開始，一直尋求方法來結束加拿大的海豹獵捕行為，他與其他船員都認為，一旦歐洲議會和大眾看清了事實的真相，捕殺海豹的行為就會宣告終結。
歐盟環保執委會委員長迪瑪斯( Stavros Dimas )正「深入調查捕殺海豹的殘忍方式」，並著手起草法案，禁止進口所有透過獵殺方式而取得的海豹產品，預計將在6月前送交議會決議。基於對殘忍獵捕海豹行為的疑慮，荷蘭與比利時在2007年就獨自宣佈禁止進口相關海豹產品。
加拿大對於這些禁令也提出抗議，並且在3個月底，派出加拿大官方和海豹獵戶四處拜訪歐洲議員，針對獵捕海豹議題進行遊說。
A judge in Sydney, Nova Scotia granted bail Sunday to two men arrested on a conservation vessel documenting the seal hunt in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Acting for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, officers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Coast Guard boarded the Dutch-registered Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Farley Mowat on Saturday.
Watson says the ship was in international waters and beyond Canada's reach when black-clad Mounties brandishing submachine-guns boarded the ship.
They seized the vessel and arrested the crew for alleged Fisheries Act violations.
Captain Alexander Cornelissen, who is from the Netherlands, and First Officer Peter Hammarstedt appeared in court Sunday. They are accused of steering the Farley Mowat to within 900 meters of the seal hunt. This is a violation of marine mammal regulations unless a permit to observe is granted, but the Farley Mowat had no permit.
Cornelissen and Hammarstedt must each post $5,000 bail.
Canadian author Farley Mowat, 86, for whom the ship was named, has donated the $10,000 to bail out the two crewmembers, said Sea Shepherd founder Captain Paul Watson in Sydney.
They are expected to be released on bail today. The charges could result in fines of up to $100,000, or up to one year in jail, or both.
The crew members aboard the Dutch-registered vessel were documenting the Canadian sea hunt, and obtained video footage of sealers skinning young seals alive that will be used to influence the European Parliament to ban import of Canadian seal products, Watson told CTV News in Sydney.
Watson is seeking an end to the Canadian seal hunt that he has been fighting since the mid-1970s. He and members of the Farley Mowat crew say that when the European lawmakers and the public understand the facts, the seal hunt will come to an end.
European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is "looking into the nature of the inhumane killing of seals," and is drafting the text of a law to ban imports of all seal products resulting from hunts where animals suffer that will be presented before June.
In 2007, the Netherlands and Belgium independently banned imports of seal products over concern about cruelty in the seal hunts.
Canada is fighting those bans, and in addition, late last month a delegation of Canadian officials and seal hunters visited European officials to lobby on behalf of the seal hunt.
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In my healing journey and learning to attain the breath awareness, I become aware of the reality that all the creatures of the world are breathing the same breath. Take action, here and now. From my physical being to the every corner of this out of balance's planet.
