The ban will be implemented in 2010 and will help save hundreds of thousands of seals that are brutally clubbed, shot and often skinned alive each year in Canada and around the world.

“The European ban is a massive blow to the seal killers that profit from horrific cruelty to defenceless animals”, said Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG, “However, seals are still being persecuted all over the world including in Scotland and we will continue to actively campaign to provide them with the full protection they deserve.”

It is estimated that thousands of seals are killed each year by the Scottish salmon industry with scientists recently reporting a ‘frightening decline’ in common seals around the UK coast. The Scottish Government has recently suggested that this decline may be due to competition with grey seals or even predation by orcas (killer whales) however these statements lack scientific credibility. 

On 30th April the Scottish Government launched its draft Marine Bill announcing a licensing system for killing seals and salmon farms, salmon netsmen and sea fisheries will be able to apply for a license to shoot seals. The Seal Protection Action Group welcomes stronger legislation to protect Scotland’s marine environment, but we do not believe that a licensing system for killing seals is desirable, realistic or enforceable.

“European nations have voted by public demand to protect seals from cruelty yet Scotland continues to persecute these wonderful animals”, said Andy Ottaway, “Seal killing leaves an indelible stain on the international image of both Scotland and Scottish salmon products and must be stopped.”

We are calling on members of the public to avoid Scottish salmon unless their retailer can guarantee that producers do not shoot seals. Please show your support by signing our ‘Save Scotland’s Seals’ pledge.

You can also help SPAG to protect seals by:

The Seal Protection Action Group (SPAG) is delighted with this decision. SPAG has been actively campaigning for the ban, and we lobbied key Committee members before the vote urging them to support a complete ban and to reject a proposed seal product labeling scheme instead. The labeling scheme would have allowed seal imports to continue from countries that kill seals provided they met strict guidelines intended to make the killing of seals more humane.

In January, the Canadian Government, that sanctions the world’s largest seal cull, announced changes in domestic killing regulations in an attempt to make the Canadian cull appear more humane and so allow the seal trade to continue.

The European Parliamentary Committee’s vote sets a clear mandate to the European Commission that a comprehensive ban on trade must be adopted.

“A comprehensive ban on trade in seal products within the European Union will be a massive blow to the seal killers that profit from appalling cruelty to defenseless animals” said Andy Ottaway, Campaign Director of SPAG, “However, we still have a lot of work to do to greater protect the hundreds of thousands seals still being slaughtered  worldwide”.

In addition to the massive Canadian seal cull, where over 300,000 seals are clubbed and shot each year, large scale seal hunts also take place in countries such as Namibia, Norway, Russia, Greenland and the UK.

In the UK, an estimated 5,000 seals are deliberately killed in Scottish waters alone each year, by salmon farming and angling interests. Although the UK Government is supporting an EU ban on all seal product imports, SPAG is concerned at the woefully inadequate protection afforded to the UK’s globally important populations of common and grey seals.

SPAG is working hard to protect the hundreds of thousands of seals being persecuted worldwide. For further details about our campaigns and how you can get involved, please click here.

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You can also help SPAG to protect seals by: