The two fishermen charged with the deaths of 21 grey seal pups on the small island of East Linga in the Shetland Islands have now appeared in court.

John George Eunson, aged 44, of Seefeld, Symbister, Whalsay, and 47 year old Jimmy Stewart, of Ellies Knowe, Saltness, Symbister, Whalsay, have been charged with mutilating, beating and crushing and willfully killing 21 grey seals with intent to cause unnecessary suffering under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act.

Both men have also been charged under the Conservation of Seals Act (1970) for killing seals during the closed breeding season, between 1st September and 31st December, when grey seals are nursing their newborn pups.

The Seal Protection Action Group is campaigning to get the The Conservation of Seals Act (CSA 1970) replaced with effective legislation that actually protects seals from deliberate killing. The CSA provides little more than a licence to kill grey and common seals, except during their respective breeding seasons, because : fishing interests, notably salmon farmers, netsmen and sport anglers can shoot seals perfectly legally to prevent damage to their equipment or stock.
To date there has only ever been one successful prosecution under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, and this related to the use of a shotgun, rather than a rifle, to kill three seals. Over the years there have been numerous illegal seal killing incidents around the Scottish coast, some of which the police have investigated, though no charges have been brought against offenders.

It is estimated that up to 5,000 seals are killed in Scottish waters each year by salmon farm and fisheries interests. Recently scientists have reported that there has been a ‘frightening’ decline in common (harbour) seals in Scotland and England. It is not yet clear if grey seals have been affected.

The two men arrested over the horrific grey seal pup slaughter made no plea when they appeared in the dock. They have also been excused from appearing in court when the case is recalled on 15 January after one of the defendants said he would be sea fishing on that date.
Andy Ottaway of the Seal protection Action Group said:

“This appalling case highlights they need for a fundamental change in attitude, and the law, for our globally important common and grey seal populations. Our seals are disappearing and this culture of killing seals must be stopped. Our seals must be fully protected under law from any deliberate killing before it is too late”

At the Seal protection Action Group we are campaigning to create, effective legislation to provide seals with the full protection they deserve. On Tuesday 16th December, representatives from the Seal Protection Action Group along with a delegation of MP’s visited 10 Downing Street to hand in a letter signed by 27 leading animal welfare and conservation organisations asking for an immediate and comprehensive ban on the deliberate killing of all seals in UK waters, including Scottish waters.

Andy Ottaway of the Seal Protection Action Group has a message for the public:

“Until the governments protect our seals as they surely must, we are calling on the public to avoid Scottish salmon unless they can be assured that no seals have been killed. We know that the public support our view that dead seals is too high a price to pay for Scottish salmon”

PRESS ENQUIRIES:Please click here to download the official Media Release

For further details about our campaign to protect seals in the UK please click here to be redirected to our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals’ campaign.

Take Action – Please help protect seals!

In order for our campaign to be successful we need your help, please consider:

Tags: Conservation of Seals Act, grey seal pups, killing seals, Scotland, seal protection, Shetland seal pup slaughter

Yesterday (Tuesday 16th December) Liberal Democratic MP for Lewes ‘Norman Baker’ and Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South ‘Robert Flello’ joined us at 10 Downing Street demanding a ‘CEASEFIRE FOR SEALS’.

Andy Ottaway of the Seal Protection Action Group along with representatives from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue and the Cornwall Seal Group handed in a letter to the Prime Minister asking him for an immediate and comprehensive ban on the deliberate killing of all seals in UK waters, including Scottish waters.

Under current laws, which are almost 40 years old, fishing interests, including salmon farmers, can shoot seals to prevent supposed damage to their stock. Recent studies show that total numbers of seals in the UK declined by 12% last year, and an estimated 5,000 are shot each year in Scottish waters alone.

Talking about his support for our Saving Scotland’s Seals campaign, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes, Norman Baker said:

“It is disgraceful that so many seals are still subject to this annual slaughter. The current legislation is woefully outdated and it is vitally important that we immediately amend the law so that seals get the protection they deserve. The government must act.”

PRESS ENQUIRIES: PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE

For further details about our campaign to protect seals in the UK please click here to be redirected to our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals’ campaign.

Take Action – Please help protect seals!

In order for our campaign to be successful we need your help, please consider:

Tags: 10 Downing Street, British Divers Marine Life Rescue, Ceasefire for seals, Cornwall Seal Group, Norman Baker, Robert Flello

A delegation of MPs will be supporting us at 10 Downing Street on Tuesday 16th December as we call on Prime Minister Gordon Brown asking him for an immediate and comprehensive ban on the deliberate killing of all seals in UK waters, including Scottish waters.

An estimated 5,000 seals are shot in Scottish waters alone each year by salmon farmers and other fisheries interests. (Click here for further information on the persecution of seals in the UK)

During the event on Tuesday we will be unfurling a banner which demands a ‘CEASEFIRE FOR SEALS!’ Joining us will be Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, Conservative MP David Amess and Labour MP Robert Flello.

Talking about his support for our campaign Rob Flello MP for Stoke-on-Trent South has said:

“It’s a disgrace that seals are still tragically slaughtered in parts of the UK and it needs to end.  There can be no excuse for such barbaric practices and I support the calls to ban this practice and restore the rapidly declining numbers of our common seals.”

During the event on Tuesday SPAG Campaign Director Andy Ottaway will be handing in a letter address to Prime Minister Gordon Brown calling for greater protection for our globally important seal populations. The same letter which has been signed by 28 leading conservation and animal welfare charities was also handed in to the Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond on Tuesday 24th November.

Campaign Director Andy Ottaway at SPAG has stated:

“We are calling on the British and Scottish Governments to introduce emergency measures to fully protect all our seals from any deliberate killing and to replace outdated legislation with a Protection of Seals Act as quickly as possible. We are also calling on the public to avoid Scottish salmon unless they can be assured that no seals have been killed. Dead seals are too high a price to pay for Scottish salmon”.

PRESS ENQUIRIES: PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL MEDIA RELEASE

Take Action – Please help protect seals!

For further details about our campaign to protect seals in the UK please click here to be redirected to our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals’ campaign.

In order for our campaign to be successful we need your help, please consider:

Tags: Ceasefire for seals, David Amess, Norman Baker, Robert Flello

A second man has been charged in connection with the clubbing to death of what appears to be now a slaughter of an even greater number of grey seal pups found on a beach in the Shetland Islands.

Last week (w/c 1st December) a 47 year old fisherman was charged with killing 18 seals on the island of East Linga, about three miles east of Whalsay. The two men were seen to be acting suspiciously on East Linga and Shetland Police officers along with, Scottish Natural Heritage staff and a local SSPCA officer returned to the island and found the carcasses of 18 seal pups. A subsequent visit is understood to have revealed even more dead seals, all of which appeared to have been clubbed to death.

With respect to the second man being charged, Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director at the Seal Protection Action Group has stated:

“The horrific murder of these seal pups demonstrates the negative attitude some members of the fishing industry have towards our globally important seals. We hope that all of the perpetrators will be punished with the full force of the law.”

At the Seal Protection Action Group we are lobbying the government to create, effective legislation to provide seals with full protection. For further details about our campaign please click here to be redirected to our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals’ campaign.

In order for our campaign to be successful we need your help, please consider:

• Making a donation
• Joining our ‘Seal Savers’ scheme
• Raising money when you search the internet

Tags: seal pup slaughter, Shetland Islands

A man has been charged in connection with the clubbing to death of 18 grey seal pups found on a beach in the Shetland Islands.

Police were alerted by workers from Scottish Natural Heritage while conducting a seal survey on 29th November. When officers attended the beach, in the East Linga area of the island, they found 12 dead pups on one part of the beach and six on another section. A man will appear at Lerwick Sheriff Court in due course.

Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director at the Seal Protection Action Group has stated:

“This shocking event is sadly typical of the kind of cruel abuse inflicted upon our seals. We hope that the perpetrator will be punished with the full force of the law. This horrifying incident can only strengthen our case for greater protection for our globally important seal populations”

The pups killed were grey seals, one of two species in British waters. The Shetland Islands are also home to a globally important population of common (harbour) seals. Recently scientists have reported that there has been a ‘frightening’ decline of common seals in Scotland and England.

In 2007, the Scottish Government introduced a ban on the deliberate killing of common seals in the Shetland Islands, Orkney and an area of the east coast between Stonehaven and Dunbar because of concern over their declining numbers. It is not yet clear if grey seals are at risk.

However, grey and common seals across other parts of Scotland are not protected and campaigners believe an estimated 5,000 seals are shot in Scottish waters each year by salmon farm and fisheries interests.

Last week as reported in the last ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals blog post’ , representatives from the Seal Protection Action Group along with representatives from other animal welfare and conservation organisations protested outside of the Scottish Parliament calling for an immediate ban on the shooting or otherwise killing of seals.

At SPAG we believe that:

“This culture of killing seals must stop! We need a ceasefire for seals with immediate effect and the comprehensive protection of our disappearing seal populations from deliberate killing before it is too late.”

If you would like to take action to protect seals in Scotland please:

• Get involved in the Saving Scotland’s Seals campaign
• Make a donation
• Join our ‘Seal Savers’ scheme

Tags: grey seal pups, Scotland, Shetland seal pup slaughter

On Tuesday 24th November, the Seal Protection Action Group along with coalition members targeted the Scottish Government dressed as seals.

The aim of our protest was to call for an immediate and comprehensive ban on the deliberate killing of seals by Scottish salmon producers and other fisheries interests in Scotland and the United Kingdom. An estimated 5,000 seals are shot in Scottish waters each year by salmon farm and fisheries interests.

During the protest we unfurled a banner reading ‘CEASEFIRE FOR SEALS’ outside of the Scottish Parliament and handed in a letter addressed to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, whilst he was not available to personally accept the letter, Green Party MSP Robin Harper was able to accept it and personally delivered it to the Scottish Government.

The letter was signed by 27 leading conservation and animal welfare charities including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), Advocate for Animals, PETA Europe, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), Animal Aid, British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR), Animal Concern, International Animal Rescue (IAR), Save our Seals Fund, Seawatch Foundation and Care for the Wild amongst many others. The letter has also been supported by the Labour Animal welfare Society and Scottish Green Party.

Recently scientists from the Sea Mammal Research Unit revealed what they described as a ‘frightening’ decline in the number of common seals around the UK coast. Under present outdated legislation – The Conservation of Seals Act (1970) – salmon farmers can shoot seals, even during the breeding season, to prevent ‘damage’ to equipment or stock.

The coalition believe that salmon farmers can deter seals and other predators by using properly maintained, tensioned nets and other devices, without resorting to lethal methods.

Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director at the Seal Protection Action Group said “Scientific evidence now supports our view that this culture of killing seals must stop. We are calling for a ceasefire for seals with immediate effect and the comprehensive protection of our disappearing seal populations from deliberate killing before it is too late.”

SPAG has also called on major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer to insist that seals are not shot by their salmon suppliers. Sainsbury’s, the market leaders in Scottish salmon sales have just committed to end seal shooting as quickly as possible and are calling on their competitors to follow their lead.

In January of this year a public opinion poll found that 75% of the Scottish public support the killing of seals being made illegal in Scottish waters with only 12% supporting Fish farmers and fishermen continuing to kill them.

“Until the governments protect our seals as they surely must, we are also calling on the public to avoid Scottish salmon unless they can be assured that no seals have been killed. We know they support our view that dead seals is too high a price to pay for Scottish salmon”

If you would like to take action to protect seals in Scotland please:

• Get involved in the Saving Scotland’s Seals campaign
• Make a donation
• Join our ‘Seal Savers’ scheme

Tags: Alex Salmond, Ceasefire for seals, Conservation of Seals Act, Robin Harper, Saving Scottish Seals, Scottish salmon

It’s depressingly and unfortunately official – the Caribbean monk seal which was aggressively hunted in the past and began spiralling towards decline as far back as the 1490’s is now extinct! The last sighting of this seal species was in 1952. It is the first seal species to go extinct solely due to human causes.

Image above: Hawaiian Monk Seal – Copyright James Watt

Across the world a range of other species are dwindling fast including the Hawaiian and Mediterranean monk seals. In the UK, it has been reported that the common (harbour) seal is also declining at a ‘frightening’ rate.

The Seal Protection Action Group is active in a range of campaigns to protect seals all over the world. Please check out our campaigns section for further information on how you can get involved.

Tags: Caribbean Monk Seal, extinction

At SPAG we have been extremely busy with our ‘Saving Scotland’s Seals’ campaign, here is an update of some of our recent activities.

Sainsbury’s

SPAG’s protest outside of Sainsbury’s Head Office in London on Wednesday 29th October was dramatically called off late on Tuesday 28th. The protest, over the shooting of seals by Sainsbury’s Scottish salmon suppliers, has now been indefinitely postponed after Sainsbury’s Head of Corporate Responsibility met with Director Andy Ottaway to discuss our concerns.

Following that meeting Andy said “Sainsbury’s have listened to us and are taking our concerns very seriously. As a result we are expecting them to make a very positive announcement within the next two weeks. Unfortunately other retailers have not been so responsive and our campaign for them will go on”.

Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue

On Wednesday 11th November, the Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) attended the WWF’s Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue meeting in Edinburgh to raise the emotive issue of seal shooting by the aquaculture industry.

We strongly urged the Salmon Aquaculture Dialogue steering group to include the standard that the salmon aquaculture industry are not allowed to use lethal predator control methods such as the shooting of seals. We also urged that adequate nets are used to prevent seals or other marine species getting tangled and drown.

The draft guidelines will be available for public view in the near future, I will let you know when they are available and how you can get involved.

If you would like to take action to protect seals in Scotland please:

• Get involved in the Saving Scotland’s Seals campaign
• Make a donation
• Join our ‘Seal Savers’ scheme

Tags: scottish seals, shot seals