Sea Shepherd UK (now Known as Captain Paul Watson foundation UK) announces the second year of our Seal Defence Campaign around the coastline and islands of Scotland

📁 Archive Document — Historical Record

This article was first published when our charity's original name/branding as 'Sea Shepherd UK' prior to our name change on 18th May 2023 following the removal of Captain Paul Watson from Sea Shepherd entities worldwide (with the exception of the UK, France and Brazil).

Captain Paul Watson remains a member of our Board, and our charity continues to uphold its founding principles of non-violent direct action marine conservation.

This article and its contents are the property of the 'Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK' and forms part of our 21 year history.

Learn more at paulwatsonfoundation.uk/new-name

Scotland Seal Defence Campaign 2015

By Robert Read

The Captain Paul Watson Foundation UK (then operating under our original name Sea Shepherd UK) deployed a seal defence crew to Gamrie Bay, Banffshire, in the first phase of our 2015 campaign to prevent Scotland's iconic seals from being killed illegally by coastal netting fishing operations, fish farms, or indeed anyone else in Scotland.

This year's deployment of a seal defence crew and a fast RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) to Gardenstown harbour coincides with the start of the wild salmon netting season, as employees of USAN Salmon Fisheries Ltd (aka the Scottish Wild Salmon Company) operate fixed engine nets either side of Gamrie Bay. USAN Salmon Fisheries Ltd claimed to have shot a seal before our crew arrived in 2014, and prevented any further seals being killed at this location for the rest of 2014.

Our deployment of a land and boat crew to Gamrie Bay marks only the start of a much larger and wider-ranging campaign for 2015, following our success in 2014.

In 2014 at Gardenstown, we were joined early in the campaign by members of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA), who had a small team initially in the area on surveillance and intelligence gathering, and who then sent a much larger team to provide support following increasing intimidation received from netsmen and their 'allies'.

Wherever we operate, we always try to recruit local volunteers and find supporters. With local volunteers from Aberdeenshire, we were able to expand our 2014 Seal Defence Campaign to Montrose / Lunan Bay, then to the Dunnet Bay area in the far north near Thurso, focusing our resources on coastal land and boat patrols for the duration of the 2014 wild salmon netting season. Our deployment to the north coast and Orkney Islands was possible in part due to the Hunt Saboteurs Association deploying teams in their own successful campaign to protect seals, with intensive land-based monitoring of the activities of salmon netsmen along the Montrose coastline.

Our patrols by land and sea in 2014 prevented any illegal shooting of seals, and indeed any killing of seals where our teams and cameras were watching.

Our 2015 Seal Defence Campaign around Scotland will (as in 2014) provide monitoring of the activities of both fish farms and wild salmon / mixed fisheries netting companies, which hold licences from Marine Scotland to shoot seals to protect their catch and profits.

The licences issued by Marine Scotland — which specify numbers of seals, locations, and conditions under which seals can be shot (the shooting of seals is always supposed to be a last-resort option where all deterrent methods have failed) — remain open to abuse by some fishing and fish farm companies, with a complete absence of any government monitoring.

Years of successful scientific development and trials of acoustic devices (often called pingers), which keep seals away from coastal and river nets, together with the effective use of secondary EcoNets around fish farm pens, mean that there are effective and proven methods of keeping seals away from netted fish — therefore making the shooting of seals unnecessary under the terms of the Marine Scotland seal shooting permits. However, some companies continue to invest fully in deterrent and prevention equipment, while others prefer the cheap option of buying bullets instead.

Typically, every year, over 300 seals are declared as having been shot — but this 'official' declared number comes solely from the companies and individuals who pull the triggers of the guns, and we are convinced the real number of seals shot greatly exceeds this official figure. Some conservation groups have previously claimed up to 2,000 grey and common seals are shot around Scotland's coast each year.

We call on Marine Scotland to reassess their current policies regarding seals, due to the proven seal deterrent methods now available, and request the cancellation of all licences. Due to the continued absence of any proactive government or contracted independent teams tasked with monitoring the activities of these fishing companies, our campaign crews will continue to fulfil this role, and provide much-needed patrols, passing information to Police Scotland and water and river bailiffs to enable prosecutions for poaching and any other illegal activities. Our campaign crew will intervene if necessary to prevent the illegal killing or deliberate harassment of iconic Scottish seals, which are all protected species under UK and EU legislation.

Our 2015 Seal Defence Campaign in Scotland will be significantly larger than our campaign crew of last year — already numbering over 60 volunteers joining us at their own expense from around Scotland, as well as travelling from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, France, the USA, and Chile to help defend Scotland's seals.

For the next five months, our crews will be operating from a number of mainland coastal locations and islands, covering areas where seals are currently being shot illegally or allegedly legally under permit from Marine Scotland. Our international crew will be patrolling along the coastline by land, will use our fast RIBs, and will be supported by two privately owned and operated vessels.