Figures published this month by the Scottish Government show that more seals were killed under licence in the second quarter of 2011 than in the first.
Reports to Marine Scotland, the Scottish Government department that operates the licensing scheme, showed that 131 seals (114 grey seals and 17 common seals) were shot from March to June 2011. The previous figures showed that 80 seals (61 greys and 19 commons) were shot from January to March 2011
The great debate among seal protection organisations is whether the new seal licensing system is achieving better protection for seals in Scotland, or whether it is simply a cull by another name. We all remain sceptical of the need for shooting seals, particularly on fish farms where anti-predator nets would be an effective, non-lethal deterrent. And while Marine Scotland suggests that the relatively low numbers of common seals killed this spring may reduce the likelihood of pregnant or nursing mothers being shot, we still deplore the loss of full legal protection for seals during their breeding seasons.
Marine Scotland has attributed the rise in shooting to the opening of the salmon fishing season. Less than half of the second quarter’s shooting (45% or 92 seals) took place at fish farms and 55% (119 seals) at river fisheries and netting stations. Marine Scotland told OneKind that the new figures were still well below what might have been expected at this point in the year and “very low” in comparison to seal populations.
Nonetheless when we consider that each of these animals was a sentient individual, doing nothing “wrong” but simply surviving in an environment which humans compete to use, the figures are still too high. So far this year, 211 of Scotland’s seals have legally been shot at fish farms, river fisheries and netting stations around the coast. Orkney (an area not known for its salmon rivers, although it has a couple of dozen fish farms) has the dubious honour of seeing 84 of these beautiful animals – 82 grey seals and 2 common seals – killed, in just six months.
Potentially, licensing is an improvement on the unregulated free-for-all that existed under the old Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Let’s remember, it is now illegal to kill a seal in Scotland and the licensing regime is the only way that an exception can be made to this rule. Shooters are now more accountable and while it is hard to quantify, seal shooting has probably reduced as a result.
But - despite the protestations of fishing and fish farm interests that seal shooting is an exceptional act of last resort - the fact remains that at least one seal is shot every day in Scotland. This is a habit that we need to break.