Pete Bevington

10 September, 2007

ANIMAL welfare groups have called on the Scottish and Westminster governments to take urgent action to protect seals from being shot.

The move comes after surveys showed a huge decline in the number of common seals, especially around the northern isles and elsewhere in Scotland.

Last year the Sea Mammal Research Unit, based in St Andrews, discovered that populations in Orkney and Shetland had fallen by more than 40 per cent.

Now campaigners say the special protection measures brought in by the Scottish Government in response to the survey are not enough and want to see a complete ban on shooting seals in UK waters.

They believe the recent deaths of seals off Sweden by a virus similar to the phocine distemper (PDV) which killed thousands of seals in 1988 and 2003 has made the situation even more urgent.

John Robins, of Save Our Seals, said: "It is not known why seal numbers have crashed and while we try to find out what the problem is we should be protecting those seals which are left. It is currently perfectly legal to shoot seals in UK waters. That persecution must be stopped."

Andy Ottoway, of Seal Protection Action Group, added: "Our seals are dying, so it's absolutely vital that we take urgent action to protect them from the indiscriminate shooting that we know is taking place around our coasts."