Review of the operation of the seal licensing system under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010: report
This report considers all aspects of the operation of the seal licensing system during the period from 2011 to 2014.
Annex 3 Seal Licences 2013
Marine Scotland received 59 applications for seal licences and 52 licences have been granted: three licences are pending issue, three licence applications were denied and one withdrawn. Table 1 below provides a full breakdown.
TABLE 1
| Seal Management Area | Application Type | Licence Type | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protection of Health and Welfare | Prevention of Serious Damage | Total | Protection of Health and Welfare | Prevention of Serious Damage | Total | |
| East Coast | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Moray Firth | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Orkney and North Coast | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Shetland | 6 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| South West Scotland | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Western Isles | 9 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| West Scotland | 11 | 5 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| Grand Total | 30 | 29 | 59 | 30 | 22 | 52 |
The 30 licences issued for protection of health and welfare and 1 issued for prevention of serious damage, cover a total of 225 individual fish farms.
The maximum number of seals involved is 774 grey and 265 common. Table 2 below provides details. This maximum represents less than 0.7% of the grey seal population of 100,000 and slightly over 1% of the minimum common seal population of 20,500. The numbers are significantly lower than previous estimates proposed by Non-Government Organisations at between 2,000 and 5,000.
TABLE 2a Grey Seals
| Seal management area | Grey seals applied for | PBR* | Grey seals granted | Grey seals shot: 1st quarter | Grey seals shot: 2nd quarter | Grey seals shot: 3rd quarter | Grey seals shot: 4th quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Coast | 142 | 314 | 82 | 2 | 20 | 6 | 0 |
| Moray Firth | 145 | 174 | 90 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 4 |
| Orkney & North Coast | 355 | 1448 | 220 | 18 | 46 | 17 | 6 |
| Shetland | 240 | 236 | 105 | 29 | 9 | 10 | 6 |
| South West Scotland | 63 | 57 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Western Isles | 198 | 387 | 125 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| West Scotland | 204 | 386 | 126 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Grand Total | 1347 | 3002 | 774 | 77 | 90 | 49 | 22 |
The maximum number of grey seals allowed on licences granted in 2013 represents a 12% reduction on numbers involved in the previous year's licences and a 25% reduction since the system was introduced in 2011.
TABLE 2b Common Seals
| Seal management area | Common seals applied for | PBR* | Common seals granted | Common seals shot: 1st quarter | Common seals shot: 2nd quarter | Common seals shot: 3rd quarter | Common seals shot: 4th quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Coast | 54 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moray Firth | 34 | 17 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Orkney & North Coast | 37 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Shetland | 23 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| South West Scotland | 88 | 35 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Western Isles | 75 | 82 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Scotland | 291 | 446 | 163 | 7 | 3 | 11 | 7 |
| Grand Total | 602 | 617 | 265 | 8 | 5 | 12 | 11 |
The maximum number of common seals allowed on licences granted in 2013 represents a 9% reduction on numbers involved in the previous year's licences and an 16% reduction since the system was introduced in 2011.
Summary
The average level of shooting is around 26% for third year of operation.
43% of all licences have shot no seals at all during 2013.
Around 38% of shooting has occurred at fish farms and 62% at fisheries during the third year.
Only 105 seals have been shot across 216 individual fish farms and 169 seals across over 40 river fisheries and netting stations during the third year.
There was an overall reduction in the level of shooting in 2013: 37% lower compared to 2012 and 40% lower compared to 2011 figures.
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