Seal shooting licensing process, criteria and impact: EIR release

Information requested

1. Seal Shooting Licences Issued

• How many licences have been granted in Scotland to permit the shooting of seals from January 2015 to February 2025?
• Please provide a breakdown of the number of licences issued each year, including the species of seals (e.g., grey seals or common seals) targeted by these licences.
• Could you also clarify which sectors (e.g., aquaculture, fisheries, or other commercial interests) these licences were granted to?

2. Impact of Seals on Salmon Stocks

• Has Marine Scotland conducted or commissioned any studies into the effects of seal predation on salmon stocks in major rivers across the South of Scotland (e.g., the Tweed, Annan, or Nith rivers)?
• If so, please provide any findings, data, or reports on whether seal predation has had a measurable impact on wild salmon populations in these rivers.

3. Licensing Process and Criteria

• What is the official process for applying for a licence to shoot seals in Scotland?
• What specific criteria must be met for a licence to be granted, and which government bodies or agencies are involved in the approval process?
• Are there any mandatory conditions attached to the issuance of these licences, such as monitoring or reporting requirements?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because an exception under, regulation 6(1)(b) Information publicly available of the EIRs applies to that information.

Under regulation 6(1)(b) of the EIRs, we do not have to give you information which is already publicly available and easily accessible to you in another form or format. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

The information you have requested in question one

The information you have requested on Seal Shooting Licences is publicly available at the following link from 2015 to 2020 Seal licensing records: 2011-present - gov.scot. For the years 2021 and 2022 no licences where issued, in 2023 one licence was issued to the River Nith and in 2024 four licences were issued to the Rivers Nith, Spey, Tay and Dee Aberdeen.

The information you have requested on a breakdown of the number of licences issued each year, including the species of seals is publicly available at the following link from 2015 to 2020 Seal licensing records: 2011- present - gov.scot. For the years 2021 and 2022 no licences were issued. In 2023, one licence was issued to permit the killing of one grey seal on one river (River Nith) for the purpose of conservation of wild Atlantic salmon. In 2024, four licences were issued to permit the killing of one grey seal on each of four rivers (Rivers Nith, Spey, Tay and Dee Aberdeen) all for the purpose conservation of wild Atlantic salmon.

The information you have requested on the sectors relates to either, those licences granted for protection of health and welfare to fish farms, or licences for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon in rivers.

The information you have requested in question 2

The Marine Directorate has not conducted or commissioned any studies into the effects of seal predation on salmon stocks in major rivers across the South of Scotland.

The information you have requested in question 3

The information on the official process and criteria for applying for a “licence to shoot seals” can be found at the following link Seal licensing: application form and guidance - gov.scot .

Additional information provided out with the EIRs

Under regulation 9 of the EIRs (our duty to provide advice and assistance) Please note changes to the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 removed two purposes for which Scottish Ministers could grant licences authorising the taking or killing of seals and those changes were effective from 1 February 2021. The purposes removed were to prevent serious damage to fisheries or fish farms, and to protect the health and welfare of farmed fish.

Information prior to 2021 is published online at 2020 - Seal licensing records: 2011-present - gov.scot (www.gov.scot).

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.