I said in 1977 that my lifelong ambition is to eradicate the crime and the horror of whaling. I intend to do just that. Many veterans of Sea Shepherd campaigns, the most loyal of my crew, are with me in this new endeavor.
I suppose it is inevitable when an organization becomes larger,
there is a temptation by some to want to change the program and to
remove anyone who opposes such change.
So in June of this year, the Sea Shepherd U.S. Board of Directors
made the decision to stop doing what we have been doing for 45
years.
No more confrontational or controversial campaigns. No more blocking
poaching vessels, whaling ships, and other illegal activities. No
more confiscating illegal nets.
I was told I was too outspoken to speak for Sea Shepherd. The new
direction focused on working with governments and researchers.
In other words, being like dozens of other organizations.
This was not what I intended Sea Shepherd to be when I founded it in
1977. I told the Board I could not support nor take part in this
radical change in our course. This was not the Sea Shepherd I
created.
Sea Shepherd needed to be on the front lines, unafraid of the
challenges and determined to intervene using the strategy of
aggressive non-violence, meaning intervention without causing
injuries, something we have been doing for over four decades.
The Board told me I was now just an employee and I had to do what I
was told. They would continue to pay me a comfortable salary in
return for saying and doing nothing.
I said that was something I would not do.
They then informed me that I had no rights to the name Sea Shepherd
and no rights to the logos that I designed and created for Sea
Shepherd.
I resigned, and did so because I was still a Board member of Sea
Shepherd Global. I could carry on working under the Global structure
on campaigns to protect the Ocean and was told by Global that I
would be welcome to work with them.
In August, Sea Shepherd USA informed Global that the U.S. branch had
covertly registered some 70 trademarks on the name Sea Shepherd and
the Logos.
Global was now told they had to comply with what Sea Shepherd USA
wanted.
In response, I received an email from Global Director Alex
Cornelissen telling me I was officially dismissed from the Board.
There was no Board meeting, no discussion and no vote.
So, in response to this hostile takeover of the organization I
founded, and in order to carry on doing what we have been doing, the
way we have been effectively doing it, I established the Captain
Paul Watson Foundation.
My foundation has now partnered with Sea Shepherd France, the United
Kingdom and Brazil to form Sea Shepherd Origins for Sea Shepherd
groups that wish to remain loyal to our original objectives and
operational strategies.
So now, just a few months after founding my Foundation in the USA
and in Australia, we have secured our first ship.
I am excited to share with you that the Captain Paul Watson
Foundation now has an impressive ship, and we will rebuild and
replace what has been taken away from us.
Thanks to my longtime friend John Paul DeJoria, we have secured a
72-meter former Scottish Fisheries Patrol vessel that is now the
John Paul DeJoria #2.
We are also working on securing a 2nd ship. Plus, Sea Shepherd
France has their own ship.This means we now have a fleet which we
will call Neptune’s Navy.
In 1977, I was voted off the Board of Greenpeace for being too
controversial and too aggressive in my opposition to high seas
criminals. That was a positive transition which allowed me to
establish the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an organization
that became a movement and shut down whaling, sealing and illegal
fishing operations around the world, including forcing the Japanese
whaling fleet out of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.
Now that I have been forced out of Sea Shepherd USA and Sea Shepherd
Global, I see it as an opportunity to carry on unencumbered by
bureaucracy and complacency. I am feeling both motivated and
inspired.
Our first ship, the John Paul DeJoria #2, will be ready for action
in early 2023.
Priority actions for 2023 will be to oppose the illegal Icelandic
slaughter of endangered fin whales, the slaughter of pilot whales
and dolphins in the Faroe Islands, whaling in Norway and Japan, and
Super Trawlers on the High Seas.
Since 1977, we have shut down 90% of the world’s illegal whaling
operations.
We need to finish the job.
I said in 1977 that my lifelong ambition is to eradicate the crime
and the horror of whaling. I intend to do just that.
Many veterans of Sea Shepherd campaigns, the most loyal of my crew,
are with me in this endeavor.
We stand ready to once again make waves, to rock the boat and
deliver a strong and aggressive opposition to the world’s most
notorious and ecologically destructive high seas criminals.
Take this important first step with us.
I invite you to join Neptune’s Navy and together we will defend and
protect life and diversity in the sea.
Please join us today.
It’s time to take action.
I look forward to welcoming you,
Captain Paul Watson