Advocates for Animals has released the findings of an opinion poll showing that 75% of people in Scotland believe that it should be made illegal for anyone to kill seals.

Scotland has internationally-important populations of common and grey seals around its coast and a legal responsibility to protect them.  Seal-watching trips are increasingly popular with tourists and generate valuable income for coastal communities.  However, the population of common seals has declined by over 40 per cent in some parts of Scotland over the last five years.

While a number of different factors are thought to be responsible for the decline, it has been estimated that fish farmers and fishermen kill thousands of seals each year by shooting and drowning. Surprisingly, nobody actually knows how many seals of each species are killed (or where, when or why they are killed) as there is no requirement for records to be kept.

At present the law allows seals to be shot for any reason – or none – for much of the year, and even during the closed season by fishermen who can claim that the seals are too close to their fishing gear.

Advocates is lobbying, along with a number of other animal welfare and conservation groups, for full protection to be given to seals in Scottish waters.  We believe that the proposed Marine Bill offers an appropriate means to end the current free-for-all and to replace it with a no-kill principle. 

Advocates for Animals’ Campaigns Director, Ross Minett, said:

Our new survey shows that public opinion firmly supports an end to the killing of seals in Scottish waters.

The Conservation of Seals Act 1970 is a relic of an era when attitudes to the killing of wild mammals were different, and much less was known about the population dynamics and global importance of seals in UK waters. We need to replace an outdated and unenforceable law with more effective legislation that will protect seals and deliver the conservation and animal welfare benefits that the public so clearly wants.  With a new Marine Bill in the offing, and plans to review the existing law regarding seals, there has never been a better time to consider the welfare and conservation of the marine mammals that make their home in our waters.