Separation from Greenpeace Paul Watson continued as a crew member, officer, and skipper (in 1972) aboard several Greenpeace voyages throughout the mid-1970s. He considers himself a founding member of
Greenpeace and
Greenpeace International, a claim Greenpeace disputes despite it being pointed out in the documentary
How to Change the World which shows that Watson was indeed one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. Watson has since accused Greenpeace of rewriting their history. (Watson himself cast the single vote against it). The group felt his strong, "front and center" personality and frequently voiced opposition to Greenpeace's interpretation of "
nonviolence" were too divisive. Watson subsequently left the group. The group has since labeled his actions at the time as those of a "mutineer" within their ranks. That same year, he founded his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. During an interview in 1978 with
CBC Radio, Watson spoke out against Greenpeace (as well as other organizations) and their role and motives for the anti-sealing campaigns. Watson accused these organizations of campaigning against the
Canadian seal hunt because it is an easy way to raise money and it is a profit maker for the organizations. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which he founded, used the same tactics. Watson was arrested in 1993 in Canada on charges stemming from actions against
Cuban and Spanish fishing boats off the coast of Newfoundland. In 1997, Watson was convicted
in absentia and sentenced to serve 120 days in jail by a court in
Lofoten, Norway, on charges of attempting to sink the small scale Norwegian fishing and whaling vessel
Nybrænna on December 26, 1992. Dutch authorities refused to hand him over to Norwegian authorities although he did spend 80 days in detention in the Netherlands pending a ruling on extradition before being released. , 1998. Sea Shepherd activists
Rod Coronado and David Howitt went to
Iceland in 1986 and scuttled two whaling ships in port at
Reykjavík and also damaged a whale meat processing factory. Watson took responsibility for the operation, abiding by published Sea Shepherd principles. He went to Iceland saying, "I am responsible for all activities undertaken in the name of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I give the orders." He was deported without being charged and is considered a
persona non grata by Iceland. In April 2010 the
Japanese Coast Guard obtained an arrest warrant for Watson "...on suspicion of ordering sabotage activities against Japan's whaling fleet", and
Interpol has listed him as wanted at the request of Japan. The red notice has the charges issued by Japan as, "Breaking into the Vessel, Damage to Property, Forcible Obstruction of Business, Injury". In March 2012 Interpol issued a "written statement to all 190 member countries making it clear that it would not publish a Red Notice" for the detention of Watson, but reversed that position in September 2012. In both statements Interpol stated that a "Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant" that it is "a request for any country to identify or locate an individual with a view to their provisional arrest and extradition in accordance with the country's national laws". In May 2012 Watson was detained by German authorities at Frankfurt Airport because of a request from the government of Costa Rica. The charge stemmed from an altercation at sea in 2002 in which Sea Shepherd said that the other vessel was illegally
shark finning in Guatemalan waters. Crew members of the other ship accused Sea Shepherd of trying to kill them. Watson was charged with violating navigational regulations with the Interpol alert stating the charge as
peligro de naufragio ("danger of shipwreck"). The conflict took place during filming for the documentary
Sharkwater and the charges were dropped by prosecutors after video of the incident made by the documentary film makers was shown. On May 21, Watson was released on bail of €250,000 but required to report to police in Frankfurt on a daily basis. In June, Costa Rica formally requested Watson's extradition from Germany. On July 19, 2012, Japan applied for an extradition order and Watson left Germany, resulting in a German court ordering his immediate re-arrest. It is understood the statute of limitations on his Costa Rican charges was set to expire in June 2013. On August 7, 2012,
Interpol renewed the Red Notice for Watson on the charges of "causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster" laid by Costa Rica. It was reported that Watson would come out of hiding to join Sea Shepherd in the 2012–13 campaign against Japanese whaling. Watson rejoined the crew of the
Steve Irwin in the South Pacific in late November 2012. In March 2019, Costa Rica dropped all charges against Watson and has removed the Interpol red notice. On October 2, the Nuuk court ordered Paul Watson to remain in custody until October 23, in order to ensure his presence in the context of the extradition decision by the Danish courts. Subsequently, another extension of his detention was issued by the court on October 23, stating that he would be detained until November 13, 2024. This was followed on November 13 by another extension which set the next hearing date as December 2, 2024. On December 2, it was announced that a decision on whether not Watson will be extradited to Japan will be taken by December 18, 2024. While Macron has previously expressed his support for Watson and had intervened with the Danish authorities on his behalf after his arrest, there has been no public comment from Macron's office to Watson's letter. Before his imprisonment, Watson was living in France with his wife and two young children. His release was confirmed by his lawyer Julie Stage, who remarked that the charges against him were "groundless".
Sierra Club immigration stance In 1999, Watson ran unsuccessfully for election to the national
Sierra Club Board of Directors, with the backing of the anti-immigration faction Sierrans for US Population Stabilization (SUSPS). After his election to the board in 2003, Watson supported an unsuccessful slate of candidates supporting strict immigration controls as an element of a population stabilization policy. This effort was denounced by another candidate in the election,
Morris Dees of the
Southern Poverty Law Center, as a "hostile takeover" attempt by "radical anti-immigrant activists." Watson responded by saying that the only change he was seeking in the organization's immigration stance was to restore the position it had held before its 1996 "neutrality policy." Watson left the Sierra Club board in 2006.
Anti-sealing activities In April 2008, Watson stated that, while the deaths of three Canadian
seal hunters (a fourth one is still missing) in a marine accident involving a Canadian Coast Guard vessel and a fishing boat during the
2008 Canadian Commercial Seal Hunt were a tragedy, he felt that the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of seals is an even greater tragedy.
Canadian Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn accused Watson of trivializing the memory of the lost sealers. Watson replied that Hearn was trying to distract attention from his government's incompetence as the boat the men were on capsized while under tow by a Canadian Coast Guard vessel, while his political ambitions continued to support and subsidize an industry that had no place in the 21st century. In 1978, Watson expressed opposition to seal hunt protest organization, suggesting in an interview with
CBC's
Barbara Frum that saving seals is a cheap and easy fundraiser and that seals do not deserve special status over other species. Newfoundland and Labrador Premier
Danny Williams was quoted as saying, "I think what a lot of people don't realize is that this man is a terrorist."
Australian visa issues In October 2009, Watson, who carries a US passport, complained to media outlets about having his request for an Australian visa denied. He states that the Australian government was attempting to sabotage the upcoming 2010
Sea Shepherd campaign by denying him entry into the country. Watson and several other shipmates were also unable to join the
Steve Irwin on its promotional tour of Australia until they were able to provide documentation from the governments of the United States, Canada and Norway, exonerating them from previously claimed acts of violence, specifically claims by Sea Shepherd of intentionally sinking a ship in Norway. In January 2013, Paul Watson was presented with an
Aboriginal passport (classified as a fantasy passport and not recognised by the Australian government) by the Krautungalung people of the Gunnai Nation.
Alleged shooting '' crew in 2005 On March 17, 2008, Watson said that he was shot by the Japanese crew or coast guard personnel during the
Operation Migaloo anti-whaling campaign in the
Southern Ocean. The incident is documented during the season finale of season 1 of the
Whale Wars TV reality show, and the first six episodes are covered as a buildup to what is portrayed as the major incident during the campaign. The Japanese respond by throwing
stun grenades, one crew member is injured from a grenade detonating close behind him and another injured trying to escape the explosions. Watson is then shown reaching inside his jacket and body armour and remarking "I've been hit." Back inside the bridge of the
Steve Irwin, a metal fragment is found inside the vest. The Japanese
Institute of Cetacean Research disputes Sea Shepherd's statements. The Institute and Coast Guard said that they used seven stun grenades designed to temporarily debilitate a target by rendering them blind and deaf for a period of time. Neither of the two conflicting accounts have been independently verified. The Australian Foreign Affairs Department had condemned "actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury". Two media releases were made on the same day from the office. One said that the Australian Embassy in Tokyo had been informed by the Japanese that the whalers had "fired warning shots" while the updated version used the phrase "'warning balls' – also known as 'flashbangs' – had been fired".
Accusations of terrorism Watson has been called an
eco-terrorist by the Japanese government for his direct action tactics against whalers, and it repeated its position after conflicts during the 2009–10 whaling season. In 2010,
Fox News commentator
Glenn Beck also discussed the comment, criticizing Watson's views. Watson responded to Beck's comments on the official Sea Shepherd website by stating that he had said that but that it was taken out of context, paraphrasing
Gerald Seymour's "One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter".
Comments following 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami Watson was criticized for his poem published immediately following the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami which suggested the disaster was
Neptune's anger. Watson responded to critics with a commentary on the Sea Shepherd website expressing "deepest concern and sympathy for the people of Japan who are suffering through one of the worst natural disasters in the history of civilization".
Criticism of New Zealand In 2013, three
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ships docked in New Zealand and were searched by New Zealand authorities to see if Watson was aboard. He was not, having transferred to another ship in international waters, aware New Zealand was required to notify
Interpol if he entered the country. Watson criticised the search, accusing New Zealand of siding with Japan on the issue of whaling in the
Southern Ocean.
Split from Sea Shepherd On September 3, 2022, Watson announced that he was leaving Sea Shepherd and setting up a new organisation, the Captain Paul Watson Foundation. Watson said "the reason I called it that is because it's pretty hard for anyone to infiltrate and take over an organisation that included my name". In December 2022 the foundation announced their first ship, the
John Paul DeJoria II. ==Reactions to activism and leadership==