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Politicians discuss calls to ban seal shooting

Seal
Seal

A Holyrood committee is due to discuss a call to stop the legal shooting of seals.

Members of the rural affairs, climate change and environment committee will examinea petition lodged by the Save Our Seals Fund.

It calls on parliament to urge the Scottish Government to stop issuing licences permitting salmon farming, salmon netting and salmon angling interests to shoot and kill seals in Scottish waters.

It wants salmon farmers to either move their farms into on-shore tank systems or legally require marine salmon farmers to install and maintain the high-strength, high tension predator exclusion nets.

Campaigners said the move would enable them to meet their legal obligation under the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to protect their stock from the attention of predators.

Save Our Seals Fund, led by a man called John Robins, is also calling on parliament to ask SNP ministers to legislate to close down all salmon netting stations in Scottish waters thus allowing tens of thousands of Atlantic Salmon and sea trout to return to their native rivers to breed.

Speaking in May, Mr Robins said: “There is a Scottish Government-sanctioned seal slaughter going on based on economics.

“It is cheaper to shoot seals than to humanely keep them away from salmon farms and salmon nets.

“Seals are scapegoats for human greed and this slaughter must stop.”

Highland Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor said no one supported an unnecessary cull but argued that tens of thousands of seal attacks take place on salmon farms every year.

“The industry maintains that, as a last resort, it needs to shoot persistent rogue seals that attack the nets,” he added.