R/V Martin Sheen ship to ply B.C. waters in July on 'salmon campaign'

A high-profile and controversial vigilante marine conservation group is sending its latestcelebrity-named shipto B.C. this summer to aid in the fight to "save salmon."

The R/V Martin Sheen is expected to sail into B.C. waters in mid-July and its crew will work with local marine activist Alexandra Morton who has fought to protect wild salmon in B.C. for years.

No actual Martin Sheen, just the ship

There is no suggestionthat Hollywoodactor Martin Sheenwho helped launch the vessel in 2014 will be along for the voyage. The ship is just named in an activistcelebrity'shonour, a long-standing practice of the group.

Details of the voyage are not public yet, but Morton confirmed that the R/V Martin Sheen is expected in Vancouver around July 11, depending on the wind.

"Canada can do much better on the aquaculture and wild salmon front," said Morton.

The R/V Martin Sheen hasbeen involved in campaigns to save the vaquita porpoise, to stop gill netting and to stop plastic pollution in oceans.

Focus on wild salmon

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson's post about the upcoming visit to B.C. waters has been shared 346 times.

"Sea Shepherd is sending the MARTIN SHEEN to British Columbia this summer to work with Alexandra Morton to address the destruction to natural habitats and indigenous salmon species by domestic fish farms. Morton has been single-handedly fighting ... for years,"Watson posted on May 23.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, first founded by a former member of Greenpeace in the 1970s, was renownedfor ramming whaling ships in years past.

History of controversy

Their tactics have always been controversial, and members say in many cases exaggerated.

"They have accused Sea Shepherd of stealing beer, stealing toilet paper, scaring children and driving drunk. Mysteriously despite the many "witnesses" that apparently saw these egregious crimes being committed, no one was arrested for any of these things," said Captain Paul Watson in a commentary on Facebook.

"They like to present this image of Sea Shepherd as ruthless, violent, dangerous, pirates...in 38 years of operations Sea Shepherd has never caused a single injury to a single person. Sea Shepherd may be aggressive but we are, and always have been non-violent," added Watson who is featured in Whale Wars on Animal Planet.

The group garnered notoriety after taking on Japanese whaling fleets on the high seas in theweekly series.

Celebrity ships names after activist actors, author

The group was accused of shining lights into the whalers's eyes and throwing foul-smelling substances on the decks of ships in an effort to halt or disrupt the harvest of whales.

Many of the society's ships are named after celebrities who spoke out for conservation from Farley Mowat to BrigitteBardot.