Over the past twenty years, the fleet of Sea Shepherd ships captained by Paul Watson, have brought some of the most sophisticated and effective forms of direct action not only to the high seas, but to the whole of the environmental and animal rights movements. Going head to head with pirate whaling vessels, hordes of angry sealers, and even the Norwegian Navy, Paul Watson has taken the direct "interventionist" approach to a whole other level in his attacks against the ravaging of the earth and her creatures His exploits read like that of an action/adventures novel, as marine-life poachers are rammed, whaling ships mined and sunk, and angry brawls take place on the barren ice drifts between little seal pups and their would-be clubbers.

Paul Watson stood his ground when and where most would have backed down. He has drawn international attention to the plight of the last of the great whales and countless other animals of the ocean. He works within international treaties and against rogue nations. He is sometimes controversial, always unapologetic, and brings to the pages of a Bite Back his 25 years on the frontlines of the struggle.

Question:
The Sea Shepherd flagship has its bow filled with cement for ramming other boats, is armed with water-cannons, protected by electrical barbed wire, and flies the skull and crossbones on its flag. Are you the captain of a 21st century pirate vessel?

Paul Watson:
In a world of pirates, how can the real pirates be identified? The word pirate conjures up many images that run the spectrum from romantic to ruthless, greedy to generous, adventurous to terrorist. The question of what a pirate is, and what a pirate is not, has been ambiguous for four centuries.

Lets go back to the 17th Century when the pirates of the Caribbean ruled the Spanish Main. They did so because there was a lack of political will to deal with them. This was because both Spanish and British merchants, politicians, and naval officers were accepting bribes from pirates. Captain Horatio Nelson under orders to stop piracy was actually kept in port in Jamaica by lawsuits brought against him by politicians and merchants. In the end piracy was ended by Henry Morgan, a pirate himself, acting on his own initiative. As a reward for ridding the Caribbean of pirates, Morgan became Governor of Jamaica and that was when his real plundering days began. Piracy invokes a spirit of freedom and because the pirates ships of old were run more democratically than ships under the flags of nations, piracy was attractive to many of the disenfranchised and disenchanted.

I myself fight piracy but I found that my campaigns against illegal fishing and whaling were often met with accusations that is was my crew and I who were the pirates. I found this amusing and keeping Captain Morgan in mind, I adopted the accusations and incorporated the romance of the corsair into the Sea Shepherd image. If our critics wanted us to be pirates then we would be pirates and to that end, I designed our very own "joli rouge" or Jolly Roger, and in the place of the crossed bones, I crossed a shepherd's staff with a trident.

Am I a pirate? I suppose I am if there are those who call me such but I look upon myself as a good pirate in pursuit of bad pirates. Like any pirate, I seek a treasure but I wish for my treasure to remain in the sea whereas those I pursue are intent upon plundering our oceans of life, diversity, and beauty.

I am a good pirate because in my entire career I have caused no death and inflicted no injury to the people who have shot at us, bombed us, beaten us, jailed us, and threatened our lives.

I am a good pirate because my crew and I have saved countless lives of creatures as diverse as sea-cucumbers to sharks, to sea-turtles to whales, to seal to cod, and so many more wonderful and valued species. So in answer to your question as to if I am a 21st Century pirate, my answer is that yes, in a world run by evil, profit mongering, violent, resource plundering, mass killing buccaneers, I am one of those rare pirates who seeks not profit, nor blood, treasure, or gain. I seek stability and conservation, protection, and the satisfaction of saving lives.

Question:
The action that kind of put Sea Shepherd on the map was the ramming and subsequent sinking of the notorious whaling ship called the Sierra. Can you recount this story for us, and what implications this one action had for both the conservation movement and the whaling industry?

Paul Watson:
In July 1979, I hunted down, rammed, and disabled the pirate whaling ship Sierra. I did this because for 10 years I watched as the International Whaling Commission and world governments did nothing to stop a ship that was blatantly flaunting international regulations protecting whales. I found her by bribing the same port officials that her Captain did. I set out from Boston in the Sea Shepherd with a crew of volunteers and found her two hundred miles off the Portuguese coast. I chased her into the Portuguese
harbor of Leixoies and I gave my crew the option of departing if they did not wish to risk arrest by the Portuguese authorities. I had 19 crew, in addition to myself. Seventeen of them left, leaving me Peter Woof and Jerry Doran, two engineers. The three of us fired up the main engine, left the dock and made for the Sierra where she was waiting in the middle of the harbor for instructions from her owners on how to deal with us. I hit her at full speed across the bow to give her a warning and then I made a tight circle and hit her as fast and as hard as I could on her port side. I saw Captain Nordegen firing a rifle at me but he was not a very good shot and I was a moving target. My bow sliced the Sierra open to the water line and forced her to go to a dock. We then turned and fled the harbor with the Portuguese Navy in pursuit. They ordered me to stop and warned me they were prepared to fire on us. I stopped and allowed them to escort us back to the harbor where I was brought before the Port Captain and charged with gross criminal negligence. I replied to the charge by saying that there was nothing negligent about the ramming because I hit the bastard exactly where I intended to hit him. The Port Captain actually laughed and said that I was technically right and he also had a problem because he could not identify the real owner of the Sierra. He said that until he did so, that I was free to go. I returned to the United States to publicize the action and then returned in December to try and still the ship away from the harbor because a Portuguese judge had taken a bribe and ordered my ship turned over to the Sierra Trading Company without a trial or a hearing. My crew and I were unable to steal the ship away because the ship had been looted by the Portuguese police, and so to prevent the ship from becoming the property of the Sierra Trading Company, we scuttled the Sea Shepherd at dockside on NewYear's eve in Leixoes harbor. Meanwhile, the Sierra had been repaired and was ready to return to sea. It never did so. On February 6th, 1980, my crew blew the bottom out of her in Lisbon harbor and permanently ended her career. We traded a ship for a ship but it was a great trade because we also traded our ship for the lives of hundreds of whales that would be spared from the pirate whaler Sierra.

Question:
During your activist career you have worked with, and had on your crew, many big name celebrities and up-and-coming animal rights activists (Alex Pacheco - co-founder of PETA and Rod Coronado, the most famous US ALF activist). What about the actions of Sea Shepherd draws in such famous and important support, and what sort of impact does Sea Shepherd's form of direct action activism leave on their lives?

Paul Watson:
It's always makes me smile to hear of Rod Coronado or Alex Pacheco referred to as bigger than life activists. I knew them when they were idealistic teenagers. But I also see them as examples of how individuals can make a difference. I witnessed them transform their compassion into passionate activism.

Both men have accomplished much over the years and I admire them both and my loyalty to them is solid. I am proud indeed that Sea Shepherd was able to contribute to their education as activists.

One of the objectives that I have always had with Sea Shepherd was to use it as a vehicle to empower people. This is the reason that we take volunteers from around the world without concern for skill and experience.

Sea Shepherd is an experience that allows for the understanding that an individual can change the world. We have had about 2,000 people crew on Sea Shepherd campaigns over the last twenty-five years. Many have gone on to work with other organizations like Earth Island Institute, Rainforest Action Network, PETA, etc. Others have gone on as individuals to make a difference. Suniva Bronson joined Native Americans at Gustafasen Lake in British Columbia where she was wounded by the Mounties and where she displayed an incredible courage in standing up for Native rights. Daniel Vairo founded Sea Shepherd Brazil. Kurt Lieber and Peter Wallerstein formed their own marine wildlife rescue organizations. Ken Nichols organized and led the human shield movement to Iraq. Frankie Seymour of Australia wrote a book about her experience on a Sea Shepherd campaign. Geert Jon Vons of the Netherlands also wrote a book and is organizing sea turtle anti-poaching groups to the Caribbean. I could name many more for whom the Sea Shepherd was a positive learning experience.

We have also attracted the support of celebrities and this has helped considerably. We live in a media culture and this means that actors and musicians have more credibility to speak on a wide range of issues than the experts in the respective fields. They are the media that transmit the message and in our culture the medium is more important than the message. Utilizing celebrities greatly increased the chances of a message being heard. In our organization we have the support of Pierce Brosnan, Martin Sheen, William Shatner and Richard Dean Anderson is on our Board of Directors. How can we fail when we have James Bond, Captain Kirk, the President of the United States and McGyver?

Question:
One of the last paragraphs of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's charter statement says that "SSCS opposes and has taken a standard against violence in the protection of the oceans. It condemns and deplores eco-terrorism and other violence in the name of conservation." Considering what Sea Shepherd is famous for, the sinking of whaling ships, can you define for us what you mean by 'eco-terrorism' and 'violence' when used in
the name of conservation?

Paul Watson:
Eco-terrorism is a form of violence usually carried out by corporations. The Exxon Valdez was an eco-terrorist ship. Union Carbine conducted eco-terrorism at Bhophal. Eco-terrorism is simply the terrorizing of the environment and those living things that are within the eco-systems under assault. Counter eco-terrorism is the neutralization of eco-terrorism. Therefore the destruction of a whaling ship is counter-terrorism. In fact, Sea Shepherd specifically targets illegal activities and thus we are a law enforcement organization. We operate under the principles of the United Nations World Charter for Nature and under the section labeled Implementation, enforcement by non-governmental organizations and individuals is authorized. I have used the Charter as my defense in court and I was acquitted of charges in Canada in 1995 because I successfully argued that my intervention was lawful. I have been arrested numerous times but never officially convicted of a crime. I do not have a criminal record. The reason being is that I don't break laws, I uphold them. I do not condemn and deplore the use of violence in upholding justice. I refrain from it myself, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has never caused a death or even an injury in our two and a half decade history. I do not however sit in judgment of the actions, strategies, or tactics of others. Strength lies in diversity of approaches and I support all diverse means of fighting to protect this planet and biodiversity.

I also draw a distinction between actions against property and actions against life. Violence cannot be undertaken against non-sentient objects. There is no such thing as violence against property. There is only violence against life. Destroying an object that is used to violently injure or take life is in fact an act of non-violence.

Question:
Are you tactically and ethically opposed to the use of violence as a legitimate means of social change for the environmental and animal rights movement?

Paul Watson
We are a violent species. We have always been a violent species, and we always solve all of our problems with violence. There have been no exceptions. Non-violent victories are a myth. Force has always prevailed. The independence of India was not achieved by Gandhi alone. There was a violent insurgency going on against the British at the same time and Gandhi utilized non-violence as a tactic against the British for the purpose of humiliating them and it worked against the self righteous British where it would never have worked against the Nazi's or Stalin's Communist Party. Gandhi lost many followers to violence. Martin Luthor King did not win Civil Rights achievements by himself, he had the help of the Black Panthers and riots in the streets.

Non-violence works as a compliment to violent action, it has never worked by itself. Violence can only be defeated by a greater force of violence or by the strategic implementation of applied violence. The overpowering force of the American military overran Iraq and it will be strategic implementation of applied violence that will force the American military to withdraw. In the accompanying propaganda wars, the side with overwhelming forces always seeks to undermine the weaker opposition with accusations of terrorism. Yet terrorism is simply another means of warfare. Terrorism is the means of warfare utilized by the less dominant forces against the more dominant. In other words, when you can't afford aircraft carriers, nuclear attack submarines, nuclear weapons, and uranium bullets, you deploy suicide bombers, hijackings, assassination and sabotage.

If war is simply an extension of diplomacy by other means then terrorism is simply an extension of war by other means. Terrorism is plain and simply the strategic implementation of applied violence in opposition to superior military force.

When is terrorism not terrorism? First, when you win. Once a terrorist wins and becomes a President or a Prime Minister, they are referred to as statesmen. Secondly, when you manipulate the media to justify your violence and thus justifiable violence is not considered terrorism.

Terrorism is a definition given by a particular bias, usually by the media or promoted by those in opposition to the group utilizing the strategic implementation of applied violence. George Washington would have been hung as a terrorist if he had lost the revolution. The Boston tea party was a terrorist act in the eyes of British merchants. Cows and pigs and lab animals certainly see humanity as a terrorist species. In America today, simply calling for a boycott of tuna fish or farmed raised salmon can get you labeled as a terrorist.

Terrorism is as terrorism does. It is simply rhetoric. In a violent world populated by violent people, terrorism is a subjective accusation. The problem is in the categorizing of terrorism. One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter.

All causes are struggles and all struggles utilize the strategies and tactics that are most readily available. Struggles are like streams of water, always searching for the path of least resistance, intent upon reaching the goal. Obstacles are to be overwhelmed or ways are found to go around to the other side. The stream is not interested in the discussion of how to reach the source. The stream is interested only with the activism of the water to reach its source. Upon reaching the source, the peace of stability is achieved but the flow of the stream is almost always chaotic and violent.

Question:
Sea Shepherd often defends the direct and interventionist tactics it takes when destroying the means of ships to cast driftnets, kill whales, and harm other marine life, by citing international laws and claiming a legal authority to forcefully intervene. If the moratorium on commercial whaling were lifted (as it very well could be soon) and commercial whaling became legal, would Sea Shepherd still put its boats between the whalers and the whale? Would you still attempt to destroy the boats and machinery used to kill?

Paul Watson:
I refuse to answer said question on the grounds that it might incriminate me. Seriously, we shall see what the future holds. For now, I intend to uphold the law and I am authorized to uphold the law, and this authorization extends to removing the illegal equipment utilized in illegal whaling and fishing activities.

Question:
You have been quoted as saying that "Sea Shepherd is the Lady of the Night of the conservation movement. Many of our allies do agree with our objectives in the daytime but they don't want to be associated with our methods at night." How do you deal with internal criticism from other movement figures and organizations? Do these attacks on your direct action approach to conservation hinder Sea Shepherd's efforts?

Paul Watson:
I don't deal with them. I find the criticisms to be irrelevant. Sea Shepherd is answerable only to our members and our clients. Our clients are the living beings in the oceans.

Shortly after the sinking of half the Icelandic whaling fleet in 1986, a former colleague of mine from Greenpeace approached me to tell me that what we had done in Iceland was a "cowardly, despicable, criminal, and unforgivable action." I answered, "So what? We did not sink those ships for you or for any of the six billion hominid assholes on this planet. We sank them for the whales. Find me one whale that disagrees with the action and we will no longer do such things but until them, we could not give a damn what human beings have to say about the action."

I think that a good policy is to always think what the client would support. The client is the species that the action is being taken on behalf of. When liberating chickens, it only matters what the chickens think or feel. The feelings and thoughts of the chicken farmer are irrelevant. The feelings and thoughts of the armchair critics are irrelevant. The feelings and thoughts of the media are irrelevant. Only the chickens matters, or the whales, or the minks, or the chimps, or the trees, depending on the action.

When I receive a complaint, I first ask if the person is a Sea Shepherd member. If not then the complaint is not relevant. If so, I will listen to the complaint. Even so, sometimes members fail to understand the nature of the organization that they have joined and then we must remind them that they joined us, we did not join them and if they disagree with the tactics, they should take their support elsewhere.

Question:
You are a cofounder of Green Peace, but left it to form the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in 1977. Since then it appears there has been a strained relationship between the two organizations, as Sea Shepherd has been called "terrorists" by Green Peace, and you have famously labeled your former group the "Avon Ladies" of the environmental movement. What prompted your departure and why the hostilities?

Paul Watson:
Now this is a long story. The short version is that Greenpeace was taken over by it's fund-raisers. What we began as an in your face environmental organization became what is now the world's largest feel good organization. People now join it to feel good. It's as if being a member of Greenpeace absolves you of guilt.

All of the original founding members of Greenpeace have resigned or have been purged from the organization. We feel somewhat like Dr. Frankenstein, having helped to create the big green monster. What I will say is that the Greenpeace history is constantly being rewritten to reflect the powers to be at the time. I doubt if there are many in Greenpeace who actually know the real history of their organization. For example, it is now part of the gospel that I was thrown out of Greenpeace in 1977 for advocating violence. The true story is that I was asked to resign from the Board of Directors in 1977 for opposing the newly elected President Patrick Moore who by the way now works for the B.C. Forest Industry and the bio-Genetic industry. I did not let Patrick into a helicopter in March 1977 with Brigitte Bardot and he told me then that when he became President that I would be off the Board. I was voted off the Board in June, two weeks after Patrick became President of Greenpeace. The primary reason given is that I had supported the establishment of Greenpeace Hawaii over the wishes of the Board. Pretty mundane stuff actually.

I was not kicked out of Greenpeace. In fact when I hunted down and rammed the Sierra in 1979, my article, written by me, on the ramming was the cover story on the Greenpeace Chronicles, the official newsletter of Greenpeace at the time. They supported the ramming of the Sierra in 1979. The same year, I was one of the eight founding members of Greenpeace International. My name is on the documents. How could I be a founding member of Greenpeace International in 1979 if I was thrown out of Greenpeace in 1977 for advocating violence?

The problem was in 1981 when David McTaggart took over Greenpeace International. He saw me as a threat to his position and took steps to isolate me. In 1986, after the sinking of the Icelandic whaling ships, I was doing a talk show in Vancouver when someone called in a bomb threat to protest my "violence." I thought that was amusing. But we evacuated the building and a reporter shoved a microphone in my face and said that "Greepeace has called you a terrorist group because of the action in Iceland. What is your response?" I did not want to get into some pissing match with Greenpeace so I answered jokingly, "oh what do you expect from the Avon Ladies of the Environmental Movement?" They have never forgiven me but I don't lose any sleep over it. I was angry in 1997 when Greenpeace openly sided with the Norwegians and publicly urged the Dutch government to extradite me to Norway. Greenpeace in Norway actually provided information on me to the Norwegian police.

Question:
Industries that profit off of animal exploitation and environmental destruction are using a post September 11th /Patriot Act political climate to encourage the state to crack down on any opposing their violent and devastating corporate practices. Free Speech and activism is under attack - and earth and animal activists are at the forefront of this crackdown on dissent. How do you deal with the "terrorist" label for Sea Shepherd's actions, and what are your thoughts on how our movements should respond, if at all, to such politically charged assaults?

Paul Watson:
The label of terrorism is simply a label. We still live in a society, at least in North America, and most places in Europe where evidence does count for something. This could change, and if and when it does, strategy and tactics must adapt to the change. If we were a "terrorist organization" we would have been shut down by now. We have not been shut down, or even questioned by U.S. authorities so the accusations are without substance and thus of little concern. Freedoms have always been an illusion. We have always had freedom of speech up to the moment we attempted to exercise it.

The fact is however, that for the eco-systems of the world, for the endangered species, for all plants and animals, there are no rights. I personally cannot get overly worked up about deprivation of human rights in a world where non-humans have no rights at all. Until animals, plants, rivers, and wetlands have rights, none of us have any rights at all because without eco-systems and without diversity, rights are meaningless.

Question:
You are a professor of ecology at the University of California in Los Angeles, and eloquently speak and write extensively about the wave of mass extinctions our planet is currently experiencing. Given the maddening pace with which the world is being destroyed by its human inhabitants, what do you stress people do, with the sense of urgency this global crisis necessitates, to counter the devastating trend?

Paul Watson:
I have been an instructor of ecology at UCLA and Art Center in Pasadena and I do lecture at Universities worldwide. I am always asked during these lectures the same question. What can we do? My answer is that you can do what you can by using your skills, talents, experience and abilities and putting them in the service of a cause that is bigger than all of us. If your skills are artistic then that is the strategy to follow. If you have the talent to be a lawyer then that is the way to go. We need diversity. We need litigaters, legislators, civil disobedient activists, computer experts, teachers, artists et al. The point is to serve the earth, to serve life and to serve the future.

Question:
Do you think it is to late to slow down sufficiently or stop the destruction of the planet?

Paul Watson:
We will not destroy this planet. We may be conceited but we are not as great as we would like to believe that we are. The Earth will abide long after we are gone. It has survived greater pollutions than we have thrown at it. It has survived mass extinctions and it will survive us. The question is will we survive, and how many species will we drag down with us to extinction?

I personally feel that humanity is doomed. We are the last of the hominid primates and this was a group that was never very successful to begin with. Overly territorial, obsessed with trivialities, violent, petty, and completely lacking in empathy for other species. The world will be a much nicer place without us. But if we can buy time for other species and for eco-systems and if some of us can alleviate the suffering inflicted on other species, then this is a worthwhile pursuit.

Question:
During your direct action campaigns you have put yourself in harms way a number of times to stop the killing of marine life. This has included putting your small inflatables between an oncoming Russian harpoon and a whale, physically fighting off furious sealers carrying clubs, and being attacked, and almost sunk, by the Norwegian Navy. How do you cope with the fear of death, and what motivates you to stand your ground when most would have long ago backed down?

Paul Watson:
Franklin Roosevelt once said, or some unknown speechwriter said it for him that, "we have nothing to fear except fear itself." There is simply nothing in this world to be afraid of. It's a fact we are going to die. There is no way out. No one gets out alive. We are all future food for worms or ashes in the wind. That is the way of it all. Without death there can be no life and without life there can be no death. It is a cycle of nature and is in accordance with the laws of nature. I have no problem with death. It is the fear of death that causes problems. It is the fear of death that prevents action. It is the fear of death that causes betrayal. It is the fear of death that creates conflict, insanity, instability, and power-mongering.

Once you accept your own death you can embrace the freedom of living. Every person dies yet not every person lives. I have lived and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I have reveled in the adventure, I have enjoyed the passions, the appetites, the taste, the feels of, smells of, sights of - life and it is profoundly wondrous - incredibly so.

The freedom that comes with the acceptance of death gives you the strength to dismiss your critics, to spit in the eye of your oppressor and dare to tackle any challenge. You have the freedom to dare to fail and you have the courage to win, to overtake, to overcome, to make a difference and you have the freedom to choose how your life will run it's course and you have the freedom to make your death into a statement.

Question:
Over the years you have faced serious charges from various countries, have been arrested and imprisoned by Interpol, and at one point were looking at a life sentence in foreign jail. What did you do psychologically to cope with such prospects, and what words of comfort can you extend to those currently serving political sentences?

Paul Watson:
Here are my prison credentials. Two weeks in an Iranian jail in 1972 on charges of espionage. One day in a Seattle jail in 1977 on charges of trespass. Ten days in a Quebec Jail in 1980 on charges of breaking the Canadian Seal Protection Act by protecting a seal. Ten days in a Quebec jail in April 1983 awaiting bail on charges of Conspiracy to break the Canadian Seal Protection Act by conspiring to save seals. Ten days in December 1983 on a conviction ordering me to serve 21 months in prison for Conspiracy to break the Canadian Seal Protection Act by conspiring to protect seals. One day in an Icelandic jail in 1989 awaiting a determination on charges that were not laid. Five days in 1993 in Newfoundland awaiting bail on charges of Mischief to save cod fish. Ten days in 1995 for Accessory to Mischief for saving cod fish. One day in Germany in 1997 on a Norwegian Interpol warrant for sinking a whaling ship. Released and rearrested in the Netherlands on the same Interpol warrant and held for eighty days in 1997 awaiting an
extradition hearing to Norway. The Norwegian extradition request was denied by the Dutch Courts. In total around 120 days of internment and in all cases, the charges were dropped, overturned, or defeated.

Going to jail is simply the price of doing business as an activist. When Ralph Waldo Emerson asked Henry David Thoreau what was he doing in jail? Thoreau replied, "What are you doing out there Henry David?"

Jail is not always bad. I used my jail time in the Netherlands to launch a campaign against Norwegian whaling and I created more media stories in jail then out. Jail and prison are life experiences and like any experience it can be pleasant or unpleasant, hard or easy, interesting or boring, depending on the psychology of the person imprisoned.

People can adjust to any environment if required. Prison is an environment and the best thing to do in any environment is to find a niche and survive and if possible, find the means to flourish. Prison also provides insight into the state of conditions for all the animals imprisoned on farms, ranches, zoos, laboratories, game parks, petting zoos, and aquariums. Most of the world's citizens spend their entire life in captivity. The death penalty is the most common sentence given to non-humans after serving their time.

Question:
Can you tell us what O.R.C.A. Force is, and what their role is?

Paul Watson:
It means Oceanic Research and Conservation Action Force. It is what it says. Orcaforce is to Sea Shepherd what the Navy Seals are to the U.S. Navy.

Question:
What has been your favorite Sea Shepherd campaign?

Paul Watson:
I have no real favorite campaigns. I have organized and led hundreds of campaigns and they have all been important. I think our most successful campaigns have involved the sinking of whaling ships. In 1983 we blockaded the Canadian sealing fleet and we were responsible for the sealers falling 76,000 seals short of their quota. I do like that we have a history of first achievements. We were the first ship to go to the seal hunt to rescue seals. We were the first conservation group to invade Soviet Siberia to get evidence on illegal whaling. We were the first conservation organization to partner with Central and South American National Parks to fight poachers.

Question:
What tactical and motivational advice can you offer, from your 25 years on the frontlines of direct action battles, to those new activists getting involved in the fight for animal rights and the earth?

Paul Watson:
Number one. Don't get caught. Number two, don't trot out the tired rhetoric of the left. People don't want to hear about capitalism and imperialism - all the talk changes nothing. The United States is not a capitalist country. It is corporate socialism. Government of the corporations, for the corporations and by the corporations. Calling these corporate welfare bums capitalists is complimenting them. Check out the video Tucker with Jeff Bridges, to see how corporate socialism deals with a real genuine capitalist entrepreneur like Tucker. A conspiracy of big automotive manufacturers and a powerful Michigan Senator hamstrung Tucker.

I describe myself as a conservative because the root is conserve and the ultimate conservative is a conservationist. I am also a Republican in the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. George Bush is not a conservative or a Republican. He is a radical right wing Christian Fundamentalist. Just because the right wing Jesus weirdos have hijacked the Grand Old Party, this does not make them Republicans. The Democrats are gutless semi-left wing Jesus weirdos. You only have one party in power in that Parliament of whores in Washington D.C. and that party is called either the Demopublicans or the Republicrats.

And put away the tired rhetoric about social justice. All people are the same. The poor are simply wannabe rich people. The oppressed are simply wannabe oppressors. People share the same vices and virtues regardless of class, color, sex or religion. Look at Slavery. The blame lies with both races. Europeans never captured a single slave. They bought them from black Africans who captured them to sell as slaves. American Indians were slaughtering each other and stealing each other's land long before white people arrived.

Why should I care about a Taliban or Saudi woman? Most of them embrace the primitive concepts of Islam. They are like beaten wives who defend the violence of their husbands. I reject all of these ridiculous anthropocentric monkey god religions. When these holier than thou types fight each other, it is a distraction and changes nothing. Whites, Blacks, Indians, Asians, etc are all the same - we are all a bunch of self centered, over self glorified conceited naked apes, all divine legends in our own mind and all confused in our pathetic little primate brains about what this world is all about.

All that matters are the laws of ecology. The law of diversity of species. The law of interdependence of species. The law of finite resources. The law that the interest of a species must take precedence over the individual rights of a single individual of any species. The law that says you don't shit in the collective waterhole.

All problems are trivial compared to the one most important of all issues - the escalating diminishment of global bio-diversity. And there is only one cause for this problem and that is out of control human population growth.

Life style changes needed are in this order. These are my ten commandments.

1. Don't bring any more humans into being. There are enough of us.

2. Spay and neuter every domestic animal possible - there are enough of them.

3. Go vegan and reduce your consumption of resources.

4. Dare to think outside the matrix i.e. outside the dominant paradigm created by mass media, industry and government.

5. Make your life count for something before you die.

6. Live your life in accordance to the laws of ecology.

7. Reject anthropocentrism and adopt a biocentric perspective.

8. Dare to fail. Dare to live. Dare to be immune from the opinions of humanity.

9. Love this life. It's the only one you will ever have so take advantage of it while you can.

10. Don't get caught by the forces of anthropocentrism.

We live in a world populated by tens of millions of species and until all of these species are given some semblance of rights, at least the right to survive, then I can't get very worked up about human rights issues.

Yes, I know, there are those out there now reading this and they are in violent disagreement with what I have said. You are entitled to believe whatever you wish but don't expect everyone to swallow the same horseshit. The sooner people begin to think as individuals and stop following the anthropocentric Pied Piper, the better off this world will be.

And here's the bottom line. Unless you are prepared to risk your life, unless you are prepared to endure imprisonment, you have absolutely no business being an activist. This movement does not need cowards. The movement needs discipline, security, and a steadfast martial spirit. We also need to understand that we must agree to disagree. Not everyone has the same values and there are so few of us and so many in opposition to us that we need to ignore inside detractors and concentrate exclusively on the real enemy - those who are destroying life on this planet.

Question:
What's next for Sea Shepherd?

Paul Watson:
Our priority concern is illegal long line fishing. At this very moment some 50,000 miles of long line have been set in the oceans. These lines can range from ten miles to over sixty miles in length each. Fish populations are being decimated and the incidental take of albatross, sea-turtles and non-target species is enormously high. In the past year we confiscated hundreds of miles of these lines, including lines set in the Galapagos National Park Marine Sanctuary.

Our ship Sirenian is now in her third year of a contractual relationship with the Galapagos National Park to patrol for poachers and this program has been very successful, resulting in the arrest and confiscation of numerous vessels and the exposure and removal of an Ecuadorian Naval Admiral on bribery charges.

We are also concerned and involved with opposing the escalating harp seal hunt on the East coast of Canada. We are concerned about the northern bush meat trade, i.e. the slaughter for commercial sale of musk ox, caribou, seal, walrus, and whale by Canadian Inuit to international exotic meat markets.

We are very concerned and active in opposing the escalating illegal whaling activities of Norway, Japan, and Iceland. Sea Shepherd Europe is concentrating on protecting sea turtles in the Caribbean from poachers. Sea Shepherd Brazil is working on a wide range of projects from educational campaigns to anti-poaching campaigns to organizing marine wildlife rescue campaigns to protect birds and animals from oil spills.

Sea Shepherd Singapore is leading the campaign to oppose the use of shark fins in the Asian market and they have attracted a great deal of publicity in this campaign thanks to a donated ad campaign and the help of Asian celebrities.

I have intentionally kept Sea Shepherd small and flexible. Our struggle to survive reflects the struggle of life to survive. When the will is there to get serious, we receive support. When there is no will, we get by.

I have never pretended that Sea Shepherd will save the world. We are simply one small acupuncture needle in a global effort to address our greatest problems. To be successful, we need a thousand small organizations addressing hundreds of thousands of issues. Strength is to be found in diversity of approaches, diversity of strategies and a diversity of ideas, tactics, actions, and philosophies.

Sea Shepherd on the web.