Sea Shepherd are victorious in court battle against Fish and Fish

A whale of a time for Sea Shepherd Marine Conservation Society as Fish and Fish have the wind taken out their sails in UK court.

Sea Shepherd won the lawsuit filed against them by the Maltese tuna company. The lawsuit came about after Sea Shepherd released 800 bluefin tuna which had been caught illegally in June 2010 off the coast of Libya. See SchNEWS 781 and 782.

On Monday (25th) Mr Justice Hamblin of the Admiralty Court ruled that the UK court was not the appropriate jurisdiction for the case to take place and dismissed the case altogether. Fish and Fish demanded an appeal but got brushed off by the judge. Sea Shepherd should receive the bond of £520,000 back depending on whether Fish and Fish decide to appeal to a higher court or not. The full bond had been raised by supporters in just 10 days back in May. The Maltese Company must also pay for a percentage of the Marine Conservation's legal fees which hits the £200,000 mark.

Meanwhile Paul Watson, founder of Sea Shepherd, awaits an extradition decision following charges against him by the Costa Rican government regarding events that occurred back in 2002. See SchNEWS 816 for full story. Press releases from Sea Shepherd's website allege a Japanese/Costa Rica connection in what has been branded as the Rice and Banana conspiracy. It seems within 6 months of a chin wag between the President of Costa Rica and the Prime Minister of Japan, Paul Watson was thrown in the slammer on a ten-year old charge and Japan dished out 9 million dollars to Costa Rica for National Parks. Coincidence?

Once again Sea Shepherd will be returning to the Southern Ocean in December 2012 to face the Japanese Whaling Fleet in Operation Zero Tolerance. The eco warriors are adding a fourth vessel to their collection. The Sam Simon will soon join the Bob Barker, Steve Irwin, and Brigitte Bardot. Sam Simon, co-creator of the Simpsons is paying for a German icebreaker for the anti-whalers.