Anti-sealing activists convicted in N.S. court

A judge in Sydney found the captain and first officer of the anti-sealing ship Farley Mowat guilty Tuesday of violating the Fisheries Act and Canada's marine mammal regulations.

Capt. Alex Cornelissen of the Netherlands and First Mate Peter Hammarstedtof Sweden were arrested during the 2008 seal hunt when they took their ship too close to men hunting on the ice.

They were released shortly afterwards and haven't returned to Canada since, not even for their trial. The two men did not have a lawyer or enter a defence.

They were accused of coming within 0.93 kilometres of the seal hunt without a permit on three days during the 2008 hunt.

Video, photographs and radar evidence showed the Mowat pursuing and harassing sealers.

The hunters testified at the trial that they were afraid for their lives, with one describing the Mowat's wake overturning the ice flow just as he stepped off it.

Court heard a radio communication from the Mowat's first mate to the Coast Guard, in which Hammarstedt is heard saying: "I am a Dutch-registered yacht sailing in international waters. I don't need no stinking permit."

In her judgment, Provincial Court Judge Jean Whalen said it was clear the Mowat was in waters under Canadian jurisdiction and was not just sailing through.

The Crown will now apply to seize the defendants' bail of $5,000 each because they failed to appear for the trial, prosecutor Paul Adams said.

The men will be sentenced in September. Theyface amaximum fineof $100,000.

Adams would not comment on whether the court can impose a sentence on the two men, who remain outside Canada.