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 2 Seal Licences 2012
Marine Scotland received 63 applications for seal licences and 61 licences were granted. 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 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| Moray Firth | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| Orkney and North Coast | 2 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Shetland | 7 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| South West Scotland | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| West Scotland | 11 | 6 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 17 |
| Western Isles | 10 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| Grand Total | 32 | 31 | 63 | 30 | 31 | 61 |
The 30 licences issued for protection of health & welfare and 1 issued for prevention of serious damage, cover a total of 230 individual fish farms
The maximum number of seals involved is 878 grey and 289 common. Table 2 below provides details. This maximum represents less than 1% 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 | 849 | 277 | 114 | 6 | 12 | 21 | 3 |
| Moray Firth | 836 | 152 | 100 | 7 | 24 | 11 | 1 |
| Orkney & North Coast | 475 | 959 | 280 | 28 | 62 | 35 | 15 |
| Shetland | 341 | 163 | 109 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 39 |
| Western Isles | 238 | 408 | 123 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| South West Scotland | 63 | 45 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Scotland | 206 | 297 | 126 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 6 |
| Grand Total | 3008 | 2301 | 878 | 86 | 115 | 87 | 71 |
The maximum number of grey seals allowed on licences granted in 2012 represents a 14% reduction on numbers involved in the previous year's licences.
The twelve month total of 359 grey seals represents only 0.3% of the overall grey seal population of 100,000.
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 | 106 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moray Firth | 82 | 20 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Orkney & North Coast | 58 | 18 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shetland | 32 | 18 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Western Isles | 120 | 54 | 43 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South West Scotland | 104 | 35 | 30 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Scotland | 310 | 442 | 184 | 12 | 11 | 20 | 7 |
| Grand Total | 812 | 589 | 289 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 11 |
The maximum number of common seals allowed on licences granted in 2012 represents a 8% reduction on numbers involved in the previous year's licences.
The twelve month total of 74 common seals represents only 0.3% of the overall common seal population of 20,500.
Summary
The average level of shooting is around 37% for the second year of operation.
31% of all licences have shot no seals at all during the second year.
Around 48% of shooting has occurred at fish farms and 52% at fisheries during the second year.
Only 208 seals have been shot across 230 individual fish farms and 225 across over 40 river fisheries and netting stations during the second year.
There was an overall reduction of 5% in the level of shooting in the second year of licensing, compared to the first.
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