Canada's Fisheries Minister has branded the crew of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel, the Farley Mowat, as "money-sucking manipulators".

The ship - which wintered in Dockyard ahead of its anti-seal hunt campaign - was seized by Canadian officials on Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Coastguard and fisheries staff also arrested the captain and first officer, following a complaint by sealers off Cape Breton that they were being 'endangered'.

The Farley Mowat set sail from Bermuda last month to protest the annual seal hunt on the ice floes of eastern Canada. Its crew - who include 24-year-old Bermudian Laura Dakin - are attempting to take photographs and footage of the slaughter to raise awareness and bring pressure on the Canadian government.

According to the Calgary Herald newspaper yesterday, SSCS founder and President Paul Watson has described the seizure of the Farley Mowat as "an act of war", claiming the Dutch-registered ship was in international waters.

Canada's Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn however, claims the raid took place within Canadian waters. He said the Farley Mowat was boarded and arrests made because the vessel did not comply with warnings and violated marine and fisheries regulations.

The ship and its 17 crew members are reportedly en route to Sydney, Nova Scotia, where captain Alexander Cornelissen and first officer Peter Hammarstedt will appear in court. But Mr. Hearn dismissed the crew, saying: "They are a bunch of money-sucking manipulators, and their sole aim is to try to suck as much money out of the pockets of people who really don't know what's going on."

The seizure of the Farley Mowat on Saturday follows a confrontation between the ship and sealers near Cape Breton on March 30.