Paul Watson

Bluefin tuna is sort of like the cheetah of the ocean. It's the fastest fish. It's a warm-blooded fish. But it's got a $100,000 price tag on its head.

I don't care if I put people off.

The Polynesians used to have a system where they proclaimed a fishing area as 'taboo.' If any fisherman was caught fishing in a taboo area, they would be killed. The Polynesians understand that the fish had to be given a chance to recover.

The oceans are the last free place on the planet.

The Brer Rabbit ploy has been quite effective for me. When a country is talking about prosecuting me, I demand to be charged and put on trial and offer to pay my own airfare. They know that I'm going to bring a lot of international media with me and put their whaling programme on trial, and they decide it's better to keep quiet and do nothing.

I don't eat fish because there is no such thing as sustainable fishing in the world right now.

In Africa, the rangers shoot poachers.

Protesting against illegal activity is not piracy.

Domestic house cats kill more fish than all the world's seals put together.

Sea Shepherd does not condone, nor do we practise, violence.

Way back in October 2007, I had urged thousands of Australians to vote for Kevin Rudd and Peter Garrett's Labor Party. Why? Because they promised to get tough on illegal Japanese whaling.

Ecoterrorism is terrorism against the environment.

The only language that the Japanese whaling industry understands is economics.

Here's the thing: Nobody gets extradited for a crime where nobody's been hurt, where no property's been damaged.

A fish is more valuable swimming in the sea maintaining the integrity of oceanic eco-systems than it is on anyone's plate.

I don't think you really have to retire from what you do.

Nobody has ever been hurt by the actions of ships I have been on.

Spermaceti oil is valued for its high resistance to heat, and thus it is used in machinery where there is excessive heat.

The film 'The Cove' made people aware of the Japanese slaughter of whales.

Documentaries make a difference.