The Scottish Government's consultation on Scotland's first Marine Bill has shown that an overwhelming 98% of respondents support our campaign.
Advocates for Animals’ LOOK OUT for SEALS campaign produced a total of 3,839 email and postcard responses to the consultation, all calling for full protection for Scotland’s seals.
The Scottish Government’s analysis now shows that there were 88 comments on this proposal from individuals and organisations. Of these, 29 respondents called for the government to go much further and to ban the killing of seals.
The consultation, which closed in October 2008, asked for views on a proposal to extend licensing powers to cover the whole year (in other words, seals could be shot at any time of year, but only under licence).
It has also proposed to remove the so-called 'netsmen’s defence' which allows fishermen to shoot seals all year round, including during the close season and to allow fish farms to have licences to shoot seals.
Only eight respondents asked for fish farms to be licensed to shoot seals without the other protection measures, and only two wanted seals to be controlled more widely.
Other comments on the subject of seals included support for proposals aimed at partially improving welfare, such as:
- clearer regulation on rifle specifications
- the need for all seal shooting to be reported (under the current regime, no-one knows how many of these protected animals are shot every year)
- the removal of the discredited 'netsmen’s defence'.
But as Advocates for Animals, and others, made clear, these would only be half measures and would not provide the legal protection that seals so urgently need.
