LEWES, East Sussex -- The Scottish Government has just reported that a total of 362 seals were shot in the first nine months of 2011 under its new 'Seal Licence' scheme, introduced at the beginning of the year. In 2012, 58 licenses have been issued to shoot a maximum of 1,100 seals.
Last year, 68 licenses were issued to kill a maximum of 1,298 seals. The figures released reveal that a total of 295 grey and 67 common seals were shot in the first nine months of last year. The campaigners predict, when the last quarter figures are made available, around 500 seals will have been shot in 2011, less than half of the government's limit and representing a reduction in seal killings of over 85% or more on historic levels.
The Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) estimates that between 3,500-5,000 seals were shot in Scottish waters each year before the new scheme was introduced and has welcomed the 'massive reduction' in seal killings based on these estimates. However, the campaigners warn that much more needs to be done in order to end these 'totally unacceptable' seal killings' altogether.
Today, SPAG Director Andy Ottaway said, "The Scottish Government's scheme has had a huge impact, but it does require that any seal shootings are a last resort measure. Unfortunately, if 500 'last resort' shootings have taken place in the first year of the scheme it strongly suggests that some people are simply not trying hard enough to stop them."
SPAG is working with a leading producer and retailer of Scottish salmon products, along with the RSPCA, International Animal Rescue and scientists from the Sea Mammal Research Unit at St Andrew's University to end all seal killings. The Salmon Aquaculture and Seals Working Group was formed in September 2010 to find non-lethal solutions to seal predation on salmon farms and other sites. Options include using correctly tensioned nets and developing new acoustic and other deterrent devices that do not harm seals or other wildlife such as dolphins and porpoises. "We aim to end all seal killings and the Scottish Government's licensing scheme is a mechanism to help us reduce them" said Ottaway, "But we do know it is perfectly possible to deter seals and other wild predators without harming them. The Scottish Government and Scottish Salmon and fisheries industry can and must do more to end these seal killings which leave an indelible stain on the international image of Scotland, Scottish Salmon and other seafood products."
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Reader Comments
13 people have commented so far.All right you lot, lesson up.Seals are yummy and good for the tummy.Just ask the Eskimos.
comment# 1 - michael eatseal · seattle Wa. · Feb 2, 2012 @ 10:23pm
Seals can be a pest just as rabbits and deer. Their population should be controlled by proscribed hunting just as these other creatures who are losing their natural predators.
comment# 2 - Woodrow Monte PhD · Page, Arizona · Feb 3, 2012 @ 3:07am
so the Canadians have been massacaring baby seals for years why arent you after them. they kill many hundreds each season for their soft white fur!
comment# 3 - abbe · Ny USA · Feb 3, 2012 @ 6:05pm
I thought there was already an established relationship between the seals, wild and human consumers. We should never eliminate our own influence on a working system, especially one that goes all the way back to early humans.
comment# 4 - Real Creature · Hartford, USA · Feb 3, 2012 @ 7:23pm
I am thinkful that the Scottish are doing their part in protecting the Seals, Because I LOVE all animals, And I fell they have every right to live as we do.
comment# 5 - Mack A Littleton · 38 North Fort Myers Fl 33903 · Feb 3, 2012 @ 10:17pm
Some fish farmers only care about money. I heard of one place where the farm could easily have been protected from seals at a cost of twenty five grand for knaw-proof nets. Rather than spend the money their policy was to shoot any nearby seals. This in an area where locals were also trying to make a living from seal watching trips.
comment# 6 - Jamie Shepherd · Lochearnhead · Feb 4, 2012 @ 2:12am
All this reading makes me want to hug a tree
comment# 7 - Steve · new found, usa · Feb 4, 2012 @ 5:43am
Now if we could only get the Chinese to stop dropping live cats/kittens in boiling water so they can skin them more easily before cooking them. Oh, wait....the chinese make cheap things and have nulcear missles. Never mind!
comment# 8 - Leon · Las Vegas, USA · Feb 4, 2012 @ 6:13am
One of you jokers said a farm could have put up a fence to keep out seals for ONLY 25 grand. Obviously your granola is a bit too crunchy, 25 grand is a large investment to save a few seals. Why is the fact seal watching trips are even mentioned? So they can make money on the farm's misery? Animal management works! The lives of a few animals being culled actually makes the survival of the species more likely. And thanks for the heads up, Leon, getting those skins was a b*tch, until you gave me that tip!
comment# 9 - waagtod · miami,fl usa · Feb 4, 2012 @ 7:06am
I love these comments, forget the seals they are eating the salmons and if we can't have salmons to eat we will just eat the damned old seals. and then we will hug a tree to show we care and then we will bar B Q a manatee before going hunting. God put all these varmints here for man, to eat not to just look at. well that ought to do it.
comment# 10 - John McCall · United States · Feb 4, 2012 @ 8:59am
So where is the outcry from Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, and all those other lunatics?
comment# 11 - thesource · United States · Feb 4, 2012 @ 10:53am
@waagtod. OK taking your argument at face value, fish farming is a big bucks industry involving tens of thousands of valuable fish. One single otter near here chewed nets and released 16,000 fish, oops! Made the fly-fisherman happy for a few months, but steel nets could have saved the day. So lets suppose you spring for some nice high-tech nets. Off that you don't lose any fish over several years, and you don't have to employ hunters to patrol your perimeter, use up bullets and so forth. Its not that the seal has munched a couple of fish overnight, your whole farm has swum away if you don't get the netting right. As for culling, most seals will only break into a fish farm if they're really hungry, which by and large they aren't. Its more like they are sitting on rocks some distance away and get shot at for fun.
comment# 12 - Jamie Shepherd · Lochearnhead · Feb 4, 2012 @ 11:58am
I lub dem! It is fun and entertaining to kill them and spread the weath to my brother, who lives in a mud hut.
comment# 13 - Brock Obumma · Kenya · Feb 4, 2012 @ 2:47pm