Scotland licenses seal shooting

[The Woodman]

There have been a number of concerns raised and invitations to sign petitions on WAB regarding seal conservation.

Laws have come into force that make it an offence to kill any seal at any time, unless holding a specific licence or for animal welfare reasons to end suffering.

In addition to outlawing unregulated seal shooting, the seal provisions under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 will also introduce a new licensing system and introduce a number of seal conservation areas around Scotland.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment, Richard Lochhead said: “These seal management measures deliver a significant improvement to how we manage the impact of seal predation on fisheries and fish farms around our coast. The new measures have been introduced after extensive consultation and Marine Scotland will now take forward implementation and monitoring.

The first annual licences have been issued today to those who need to manage seal numbers to prevent serious damage to their fishery or to protect the health and welfare of farmed fish.

Alongside licensing, we are introducing a number of conservation areas designed to protect vulnerable local populations of common seals. The areas cover Moray Firth, Shetland, Orkney, Firth of Tay and the Western Isles."

John Baxter, Scottish Natural Heritage's principal adviser on seals, said: “Given the serious and worrying decline in the numbers of common, or harbour, seals, these new measures are particularly important. They are a considerable improvement on provisions contained in previous legislation, providing a clear approach to seal conservation while taking account of the needs of fisheries and aquaculture interests to protect and manage their stocks. The fact that all shooting will be licensed means that we can gather much more comprehensive information on seal populations, which will be extremely useful when making decisions on the future management of seals.”

Marine Scotland is considering 66 separate seal licence applications. Each licence, where granted, will specify maximum numbers of either grey or common seals each licensee may be permitted to shoot. Unlicensed shooting can bring a penalty of up to six months imprisonment or a heavy fine.