He said it, not me

Paul Watson actually made some sense, thirty years ago:

In a 1978 CBC radio interview, now being circulated on YouTube, Paul Watson slams Greenpeace and others for focusing protests on seal hunting because "it is very easy to exploit," even though the species is not endangered.

Watson, the 57-year-old co-founder of Greenpeace who later established the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, tells the interviewer that conservation groups campaign to protect seals because the animals are "cute" and their images help generate more donations than efforts to save other species.

"Oh, it's definitely because it's easier to make money and because it does make a profit," he says in the seven-minute discussion with Barbara Frum.

"There are over a thousand animals on the endangered species list and the seal isn't one of them," he says on the video, which shows a static shot of Watson and two other men, and a rolling text of what is being said.

During the interview, Watson also criticizes Greenpeace for sending members from California to the ice floes off Newfoundland and Quebec to oppose the hunt.

"They're coming from the highest-standard-of-living region in North America, they're travelling to the place of the lowest-income-per-year area on this continent, telling them not to kill seals because they're cute," he said.

At another point on the video, Watson says there are several species of dolphins off the U.S. coast that are being fished to extinction but are receiving no attention from animal welfare groups because the cause does not bring in donations.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at April 17, 2008 07:50 PM