tension on ice
from CBC news - and thanks to jody from come on pilgrim for this great scoop...
FREDERICTON - Rifle shots were fired into the air Friday during a confrontation between sealers and protesters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the north coast of Prince Edward Island.
The incident occurred after three helicopters carrying protesters and photographers landed near a sealing vessel, according to Canadian Press photographer Jonathan Hayward, who witnessed the clash.
"At one point a sealer who was just walking past with his catch, he just let his catch go, turned around with a small gaff , and he came after a small group of the people in the party," Hayward told CBC News.
The shots were fired by someone aboard the vessel after abuse shouted by about a half-dozen sealers escalated into a shoving match with protesters. The activists then retreated to their helicopters.
"It was scary," Hayward said.
Dwight Spence, a Newfoundlander whose sealing boat was at the centre of Friday's incident, said no shots were fired at the protesters, as the International Fund for Animal Welfare has claimed.
"There were shots sent over the ice," he acknowledged in an interview from his boat. "We were killing seals."
Spence said the hunt protesters have been especially numerous and aggressive this year.
"I've never seen 'em so bad before," he said. "This crowd now... they're starving for publicity. They have to earn their money but it's a hard way to earn it."
Friday's incident was the second violent one within two days on the ice floes.
On Thursday, officers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans arrested three protesters for allegedly getting too close to the sealers, a department spokesman said.
Paul Watson, captain of the protest ship Farley Mowat, confirmed that 19 members of his crew approached the sealing vessel. But he insisted they kept the distance away required by regulations.
Watson said he saw a sealer attack a crew member, while the sealer involved in the scuffle claims he was only defending himself.
FREDERICTON - Rifle shots were fired into the air Friday during a confrontation between sealers and protesters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence off the north coast of Prince Edward Island.
The incident occurred after three helicopters carrying protesters and photographers landed near a sealing vessel, according to Canadian Press photographer Jonathan Hayward, who witnessed the clash.
"At one point a sealer who was just walking past with his catch, he just let his catch go, turned around with a small gaff , and he came after a small group of the people in the party," Hayward told CBC News.
The shots were fired by someone aboard the vessel after abuse shouted by about a half-dozen sealers escalated into a shoving match with protesters. The activists then retreated to their helicopters.
"It was scary," Hayward said.
Dwight Spence, a Newfoundlander whose sealing boat was at the centre of Friday's incident, said no shots were fired at the protesters, as the International Fund for Animal Welfare has claimed.
"There were shots sent over the ice," he acknowledged in an interview from his boat. "We were killing seals."
Spence said the hunt protesters have been especially numerous and aggressive this year.
"I've never seen 'em so bad before," he said. "This crowd now... they're starving for publicity. They have to earn their money but it's a hard way to earn it."
Friday's incident was the second violent one within two days on the ice floes.
On Thursday, officers with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans arrested three protesters for allegedly getting too close to the sealers, a department spokesman said.
Paul Watson, captain of the protest ship Farley Mowat, confirmed that 19 members of his crew approached the sealing vessel. But he insisted they kept the distance away required by regulations.
Watson said he saw a sealer attack a crew member, while the sealer involved in the scuffle claims he was only defending himself.
posted by jessalauren at 12:20 PM
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