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Key facts
- Some fishermen and fish farmers shoot seals because they eat fish. A seal swimming close to a fish farm, in a salmon river or near coastal nets is seen as a competitor for fish.
- There is no legal requirement for good marksmanship when shooting a seal, so there is a high risk of wounding which can lead to prolonged suffering.
- In almost forty years, there has only been one successful prosecution under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970.
- Populations of common seals have declined dramatically - by around 40 per cent - in some parts of Scotland over the last 5 years.
- Incredibly, no-one knows how many seals are being killed - because there is no requirement for seal killings to be recorded.
- We need a new law that will change the present seal-killing culture to one which is more humane.
