HAVRES-AUX-MAISONS, Quebec (AP) — A Quebec judge acquitted five animal-rights activists Friday on charges they violated a law requiring them to keep a mandated distance from seal hunters off Canada's east coast.
The five were accused of coming within 32 feet of seal hunters when they filmed the annual slaughter in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 2006.
"It is extremely difficult on the seas ... to figure out the distance (between boats)...There are few or no reference points on which to rely," said Judge Jean-Paul Decoste, announcing his decision.
The activists could have been fined as much as $84,700 had they been convicted.
The defendants, Canadians Rebecca Aldworth and Andrew Plumbly; Americans Chad Sisneros and Pierre Grzybowski; and British citizen Mark Glover, representing the Humane Society International and Humane Society of the United States, had all pleaded not guilty.
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Activists believe the world's largest marine mammal hunt is cruel, poorly monitored and provides little economic benefit once costs associated with policing and supporting the hunt are factored in. However, sealers and the fisheries department say it is sustainable, humane and provides income for isolated fishing communities.
The 2006 hunt was marked by high-profile protests by stars such as Paul McCartney and Brigitte Bardot.
The United States banned Canadian seal products in 1972. Several European Union nations, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, prohibit all seal products.
In July, the EU's 27-member states moved to ban imports of seal products from countries where hunting practices are deemed inhumane. The proposal, which does not define inhumane treatment, covers hunts worldwide, but focuses on Canada because activists claim it is the cruelest.
