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Two Greenpeace inflatable boats were sunk after they were run over and slashed with knives in the Mediterranean Sea and one campaigner was shot in the leg with a grappling hook.
Greenpeace campaigners attempted to free endangered bluefin tuna from a fishing net in the Mediterranean Sea. Using high-speed inflatable boats, they tried to manoeuvre the net to allow the fish, some of the last remaining bluefin in the ocean, to escape.
They were met with fierce resistance from the French tuna fishing vessel and other tuna ships joined the fracas.
The injuries to Frank Hewetson from London are not life threatening, although he is being rushed to hospital on land. Oliver Knowles of Greenpeace, onboard the Rainbow Warrior in the Mediterranean, said: "Greenpeace is shutting down this fishing operation to protect our oceans and the future of the bluefin tuna. We are taking action where politicians and fisheries managers have not.
"Many, including Greenpeace, have warned for years that without urgent action, the bluefin will disappear."
Greenpeace is demanding that the region's bluefin fishery be closed immediately to allow the species time to recover from decades of overfishing. Additionally, they are also asking for bluefin spawning grounds to be set aside as part of a large network of protected marine reserves.
