IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE
Basingstoke, Hampshire UK
20th September 2006.
UK seal slaughter provokes call for improved legislation to protect seals
A total of thirteen UK organisations are calling for legislation to better protect seals following another slaughter of seals on the UK’s coast.
At the Point of Vastray on the Island of Orkney, four Grey adult seals, all female and pregnant, and one juvenile have been found dead with gunshot injuries to their heads. The area was left covered in blood in what can only be described as an indiscriminate act of slaughter. The images of the scene are graphic in their detail.
A member of the public came across the terrible scene and reported it to Ross Flett, Director of Orkney Seal Rescue. The incident has now been reported to the local Police.
Mr Flett said: “Once again seals have been slaughtered indiscriminately. I have seen many incidents similar to this and sadly they are on the increase. In Orkney, this year, I have noticed an obvious decrease in the number of Common seals around our coastline and this is not the first indiscriminate shooting of Grey seals I have seen this year. These animals were clearly no threat to fishing equipment where they were shot. There were 4 pregnant females - so that's 4 more grey seals that were killed because the pups didn't even get the chance to be born. In the pupping season, they come into the shallow waters and it just makes them easy targets. It's horrible, there's absolutely no need for it.”
Currently the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (CSA) allows anyone with a high velocity rifle and an endorsement on their firearms certificate to shoot seals for the majority of the year. The CSA does limit the shooting of seals during their moulting and breeding periods (June 1 - August 31 for Common seals and September 1 -December 31 for Grey seals). However, shooting is still permitted either with a licence from the Scottish Executive or using the ‘netsman’s defence’ that allows seals in the vicinity of fishing gear to be shot [3]. Apart from shooting under licence there is no requirement to report the number or species of animals shot.
The CSA has many shortcomings from both conservation and animal welfare perspectives and was described by one MP at the time as the ‘Destruction of Seals Bill’ [4]. There are currently no estimates of the numbers of seals shot each year and no measures to prevent the depletion of local populations. Seals may also suffer a long death if injured but not killed through poor marksmanship. Nursing female Common seals may also be shot using the ‘netsman’s defence’, leaving their pups to die of starvation. Recent news [5], from the Government funded Sea Mammal Research Unit also shows that the number of Common seals around some parts of the Scottish coastline have in fact declined by more than 30% since 1997.
Often it is claimed that the seals are the cause of the decline of fish stocks and damage to salmon fisheries but there is no proof that seals adversely affect the total numbers of fish around the UK coast. However Margaux Dodds of the Marine Connection comments “It is important to note that the species most frequently targeted for this reason are in fact common/harbour seals whose diet consists mainly of white fish not salmon, therefore their impact on salmon stocks is minimal”. In 2002 BDMLR commissioned a report entitled ‘Seal Fisheries Interactions’ [6] by Susan Wilson PhD, LLM. The report traces research and debate from the 1960s to the present from seal researchers and fisheries scientists from across the world and aims to dispel many of the myths surrounding the actions of seals and their impact of the commercial fishing industry around the UK.
Much loved and much maligned, the need for better protection for seals is clear. As well as preventing the senseless deaths seen in the Orkney incident, seal populations in Britain are so important internationally that we have a duty to ensure their conservation.
- ENDS -
References in article:
[1]
British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) - http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – http://www.ifaw.org.uk/
Whale & Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) – http://www.wdcs.org.uk/
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) – http://www.rspca.org.uk/
Marine Connection - http://www.marineconnection.org/
Advocates for Animals - http://www.advocatesforanimals.org/
Seal Conservation Society – http://www.pinnipeds.org/
Tara Seal Research Centre – http://www.sealresearch.org/
Save Our Seals Fund - http://www.saveoursealsfund.org/
Animal Concern - http://www.animalconcern.com/
International Animal Rescue – http://www.iar.org.uk/
Orkney Seal Rescue – details HERE
[2]
Images of the dead seals are available for use from this link :
www.bdmlr.org.uk/deadseals.htm
low res at this page, high res from Orkney Photographic.
Contact Ken Amer
Tel: 01856 873574Mobile: 0708961780
Video available from Grampian Television
Contact Scott Mitchell: 01224 848848
[3]
The CSA allows the killing or attempted killing of any seal to prevent it from causing damage to a fishing net or fishing tackle, or any fish for the time being in the fishing net, provided that at the time the seal was in the vicinity of such net or tackle. However, neither actual proof of damage or that the damage would be serious is required and ‘vicinity’ is not defined(see McGillivray, D. 1995. Seal Conservation legislation in the UK – past, present, future. International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, Vol 10 (1);19-51.
[4]
John Pardoe MP, House of Commons Debates Vol.799 col.1723
[5]
Call for shooting ban as seal numbers plummet by a third.
The Independent on Sunday. 13 August 2006.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1218891.ece
[6]
Seal Fisheries Interactions report – download an electronic copy at this link - http://www.bdmlr.org.uk/pages/SealFisheries.htm
Contact details for interviews:
Orkney Seal Rescue
Ross Flett
Tel - 01856 831463
Mobile - 07721 073868
BDMLR
Tony Woodley
Tony Woodley – Director & PR Officer
Office – 01825 765546
Mobile : 07723 054020
Email : tony@bdmlr.org.uk
International Animal Rescue
Lis Key - PR Officer
Office – 01825 767688
Mobile - 07957 824379
lis@iar.org.uk
Advocates for Animals
Director Ross Minett
ross@advocatesforanimals.org
T: 0131-225 6039
M: 07946 517585
Save Our Seals Fund & Animal Concern.
John F. Robins - Campaigns Consultant
Mobile: 07721-605521
E-mail: animals@jfrobins.force9.co.uk
Marine Connection
Margaux Dodds – Director
T : 020 7499 9196
E-mail: margaux@marineconnection.org
Media Enquiries:
Media enquiries to:
John HicksHeadline Promotions, Press & PR
Mobile: 07771 575 654Fax: 0707 520 9717
john@headlinepromotions.co.uk
http://www.headlinepromotions.blogspot.com/
Further information and images available
Liz Sandeman
Director of Operations
The Marine Connection
PO Box 2404, London, W2 3WG
Tel: 020 7499 9196 fax: 020 7409 2133
liz@marineconnection.orgwww.marineconnection.org
Notes for Editors
The Marine Connection (registered UK charity 1062222) is a London-based charity, established in 1997. Over the last few years, the charity has progressed from a small voluntary organisation to one of the UK’s established international conservation charities. One of the charity’s main aims is to ensure as many people as possible realise and understand the importance of protecting dolphins, whales and porpoises and their natural habitat. One way they achieve this is through a mix of campaigning, education and research.Through the charity’s informative website and quarterly magazine, Seventh Wave, the charity encourages supporters worldwide to participate in helping to protect dolphins and whales and support various projects.In the UK, the Marine Connection carries out vital educational project work in the Moray Firth area of Scotland, which is home to the most northerly population of bottlenose dolphins in the world. Through the charity’s Adopt A Dolphin project, people learn more about how to help conserve these marine mammals and their fragile eco-system.
