On 31 January 2011, Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force.
Part 6 seeks to balance seal conservation with sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and its introduction means:
- It is an offence to kill or injure a seal except under licence or for welfare reasons, outlawing unregulated seal shooting that was permitted under previous legislation
- A number of seal conservation areas around Scotland will begin to be introduced, designed to protect vulnerable, declining common seal populations
- A new seal licensing system, providing a well regulated and monitored context for seal management in Scotland has been introduced
2013 Seal Licences
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and 52 licences have been granted: three licences are pending issue, three licence applications were denied and one withdrawn.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. (This information is correct as at 10 April 2013).
| TABLE 1 | | | | | | |
| | Application Type | | | Licence Type |
| Seal Management Area | 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 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. (This information is correct as at 10 April 2013).
| TABLE 2a | Grey Seals | | | | | | |
| Seal management area | Grey seals applied for | PBR* | Grey seals granted | Grey seals shot:
first quarter | Grey seals shot:
second quarter | Grey seals shot:
third quarter | Grey seals shot:
fourth quarter |
| East Coast | 142 | 314 | 82 | | | | |
| Moray Firth | 145 | 174 | 90 | | | | |
| Orkney & North Coast | 355 | 1448 | 220 | | | | |
| Shetland | 240 | 236 | 105 | | | | |
| South West Scotland | 63 | 57 | 26 | | | | |
| Western Isles | 198 | 387 | 125 | | | | |
| West Scotland | 204 | 386 | 126 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| Grand Total | 1347 | 3002 | 774 | | | | |
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:
first quarter | Common seals shot:
second quarter | Common seals shot:
third quarter | Common seals shot:
fourth quarter |
| East Coast | 54 | 2 | 0 | | | | |
| Moray Firth | 34 | 17 | 16 | | | | |
| Orkney & North Coast | 37 | 17 | 5 | | | | |
| Shetland | 23 | 18 | 6 | | | | |
| South West Scotland | 88 | 35 | 30 | | | | |
| Western Isles | 75 | 82 | 45 | | | | |
| West Scotland | 291 | 446 | 163 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| Grand Total | 602 | 617 | 265 | | | | |
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.
*Potential Biological Removal (PBR) is the number of individual seals that can be removed from the population without causing a decline in the population and is calculated annually by Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) using the latest seal counts.
For more information, a series of frequently asked questions and answers on the implementation of the new seal legislation was produced 2011.