Judge Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit Federal Court in the United States in 2014 officially designated Captain Paul Watson and his crew as pirates. He stated in court that Captain Paul Watson was a pirate for interfering with Japanese whaling, and honored us with being associated with the romance of piracy. Young people love it and unlike our former colleagues we will not be co-opted by government partnerships. A government tail will not wag our non-governmental dog.

Going forward we will retain the strategic philosophy of aggressive non-violence and we will retain the values that Captain Paul Watson has championed for over four decades, values that have since been cast aside. These values are a non-compromising willingness to take the required risks to defend and protect life and diversity in the sea.

Motivated by passion, guided by courage, and inspired by imagination we have become a force to be reckoned with as we continue to do what Captain Paul Watson has done since 1977 and that is to aggressively and non-violently intervene and to stop illegal activities that exploit and destroy life in the sea.