Campaigners call for seal protection this Xmas!

Animal protection groups today called upon the public to ‘ask before they buy’ Scottish Salmon products this Christmas in protest at the killing of seals and other wildlife by Scottish fishery interests.

The campaigners have just launched the campaign on a website : www.protectourseals.org.uk   which calls on the public to contact major retailers to enquire whether the Scottish salmon products they sell are ‘seal-friendly’ in that the producers do not shoot these and other predators around fish-farms. 

In the lead up to Christmas the organisations wrote to all major supermarket chains and other retailers asking if they could give assurances that the Scottish salmon they sell is produced without shooting seals. Unfortunately they have not received any replies which allow them to back any products as 100% wildlife friendly.

Andy Ottaway of the Seal Protection Action Group said

“We are asking the public to spare a thought for the thousands of seals that are shot, killed or crippled at floating factory fish farms and wild salmon netting stations around Scotland.  Much of this fish is destined to be sold this Christmas. We are certain the public will agree that dead seals are too high a price to pay for salmon.”

Under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 it is quite legal to shoot seals in UK waters. Even during the breeding seasons for grey and common seals the animals can still be shot legally if they venture near salmon nets.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 seals are deliberately killed every year in Scottish waters by salmon netsmen, salmon farmers and salmon angling authorities. However, no records are kept so nobody knows the true number which could be much higher.

As well as trying to persuade shops to sell only ‘seal-friendly’ salmon, campaigners are calling for the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 to be replaced with a Protection of Seals Act to make it unlawful to kill any healthy seals.

John Robins of the Save Our Seals Fund said

“We had hoped at least some retailers could assure us that they do not sell salmon produced by harming seals but not one of them could give us a guarantee we felt we could endorse. We are campaigning to persuade the public to buy only “seal friendly salmon” and wildlife-friendly salmon and to support our call to politicians to introduce new laws to make it illegal to kill seals in Scottish waters.’

ENDS

Photographs of seals shot by fisheries interests are available on request

Editors notes: