24 November, 2007

A NUMBER of local, national and international animal protection groups have come together to call on British retailers to only sell 'seal-friendly' Scottish salmon, produced without killing seals.

In the lead up to Christmas the organisations have written to all major supermarket chains and other retailers asking if they can give assurances that the Scottish salmon they sell is produced without shooting seals.

Under the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 it is quite legal to shoot seals in UK waters. Even during the breeding seasons for grey and common seals animals can still be shot legally if they venture near salmon netting stations.

Campaigners have photographs of a wounded pregnant female grey seal aborting her pup before she too died after being shot near a salmon net in Montrose in November last year. They also have eye witness evidence that it can take 40 minutes of agony before a shot seal bleeds to death.

It is estimated that 3,000 to 5,000 seals are deliberately killed every year in Scottish waters by salmon netsmen, salmon farmers and salmon angling authorities. However as no records need be kept nobody knows the true figure which could be much higher.

As well as trying to persuade shops to sell only seal-friendly salmon, campaigners are calling for the Conservation of Seals Act 1970 to be replaced with a Protection of Seals Act to make it unlawful to kill any healthy seals.

John Robins, of Save Our Seals Fund, hopes that by standing together the groups will convince salmon retailers and politicians to take action to stop the killing of seals.

On behalf of his fellow campaigners he said: "There is no need to shoot seals at fish farms and salmon netsmen should not be allowed to position their nets at traditional seal haul-out and feeding sites.

"We want retailers to come clean about how the salmon they sell is produced. I would not be surprised if some supermarket buyers do not even know that seals are killed by their suppliers of salmon.

"We want the public to buy only wildlife friendly salmon and to support our call to politicians to introduce new laws to make it illegal to kill seals. I'm sure few people will buy Scottish salmon if they know they are paying for bullets to shoot seals."