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PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF
OF SEVERAL SEAL PROTECTION GROUPS.
A number of animal welfare and conservation groups
have asked the Scottish Environment Minister and his Westminster
counterpart to take urgent action to protect seals around the whole
of the U.K. coast.
Recent scientific surveys show that populations of common seals
have, in the last five years, dropped by as much as 48% in several
areas around the Scottish coast. In response, the Scottish
Government introduced special protection measures in an attempt to
reduce shooting of seals in these areas. However these measures do
not stop fishery interests from continuing to shoot seals.
Campaigners want to see a total ban on the shooting of seals in all
British waters.
The groups are also concerned about a new unidentified virus which
appeared this summer on the Danish and Swedish coasts killing many
juvenile common seals. There is a risk that this virus could affect
common seals in UK waters at any time with potentially grave
consequences for our globally important seal population which is
already in serious decline.
John Robins, speaking on behalf of the campaigners, stated: “We are
urging the Scottish and Westminster Governments to take a
precautionary approach to this and immediately give seals in the
U.K. proper protection from persecution. We have globally important
populations of seals in our waters and we have legal and moral
obligations to protect them. It is not known why our common seal
numbers have crashed and while we try to find out what the problem
is we should be protecting those seals which are left. It is
currently perfectly legal to shoot seals in UK waters. That
persecution must be stopped.”
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY JOHN F ROBINS, ANIMAL CONCERN
Please find below a copy of our self
explanatory e-mail to Western Isles Council urging them to prosecute
Pan Fish over the release of 30,000 salmon into West Loch Roag, near
the mouth of the Grimestra on Lewis. The Grimestra is famous for its
wild salmon runs and these could be at risk with this huge influx of
inferior factory farmed fish.
We believe the authorities finally have a weapon to use against fish
farms which fail to protect their stock from seal attack and release
into the wild. The Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 makes
it a criminal offence to fail to protect farmed fish from predator
attack. This can be done easily with no need to persecute seals
simply by installing and maintaing properly tensioned anti-predator
nets around the fish cages.
John Robins of Animal Concern states: “For over 30 years factory
fish farmers have used seals as scapehgoats for their own bad
practises and penny-pinching policies which leave farmed salmon open
to stressful attacks by seals and have allowed many millions of
inferior factory farmed salmon into the natural environment. We want
to see these farmers prosecuted and heavily fined so that they
finally realise it is cheaper to protect their stock and our marine
environment. Money is the only thing these farmers understand and we
have to hit them in the pocket to stop them neglecting their fish
and damaging the enviroment. The Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland)
Act 2006 finally recognises that fish can suffer and we must ensure
that Act is fully enforced.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Munro Gold Esq.
Director,
Environmental Services,
Western Isles Council.
Dear Mr. Gold,
I write concerning the release of circa 30,000 x 2.5kg factory
farmed salmon from the Vuia Mor Fish Farm owned and operated by Pan
Fish on West Loch Roag, near the mouth of the Grimestra on Lewis.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland a spokesman for the company concerned
blamed the release on an attack by seals. The industry seem to
dismiss these frequent incidents of seals breeching farm cages as an
unfortunate but unavoidable consequence of marine aquaculture.
This is not the case and a new piece of legislation could be used to
force the fish farming industry to do much more to properly protect
their stock, avoid damage to wild salmon populations and minimise
environmental damage.
The Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 now makes it an
offence if owners of animals (including fish) fail to take any
necessary steps to avoid causing suffering to the animals in their
care.
Seal attacks can cause severe stress to all fish in farm cages and
injury and death to those fish which suffer physical attack. Most
fish which escape due to cage breaches are unlikely to survive in
the wild and can die from predation, starvation or shock. Those that
do survive may pose a great threat to the environment by
interbreeding with valuable wild stocks and reducing the genetic
viability of wild populations.
There can also be risks to wildlife and humans if they consume
escapee fish which have recently been exposed to any of the toxic
chemicals and medications routinely used to keep caged fish alive.
Seal attacks are easily avoidable by ensuring the inner salmon cages
are protected by properly installed and fully maintained tensioned
anti-predator nets which stop seals reaching and breaching the inner
cage nets.
As seal attacks on fish farms have occurred frequently over several
decades they are a well known risk to the welfare of farmed fin fish
and, under the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006, fish
farmers are now criminally negligent if they fail to protect seals
from such attacks.
We urge Western Isles Council to investigate this situation with a
view to making a Report to the Procurator Fiscal calling for
prosecution of Pan Fish under the Animal Health & Welfare (Scotland)
Act 2006.
Our area includes the foreshores of Arbroath, Auchmithie, Lunan Bay, Usan, Ferryden, Montrose, Kinnaber, Johnshaven, Gourdon and Inverbervie on the East coast of Scotland.
