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Seals to receive greater protection
26/03/2010
New research that will ultimately provide greater protection for one of Scotland's most iconic marine animals is underway.
It comes as the Special Committee on Seals (SCOS) Report for 2009 shows Scotland is home to around 186,000 grey seals in Scotland. This is more than previously estimated and 90 per cent of the total UK population. There are a minimum of 19,800 common seals in Scotland.
The study into the diet of common seals will look at the main reasons for localised declines and explore competition with grey seals as a potential factor. Additional protection for common seals in the Western Isles - possibly under a seal conservation order - will also be explored through the Scottish Seals Forum.
This follows the Scottish Parliament's unanimous backing of the Scottish Marine Bill which received Royal Assent earlier this month.
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said:
"This important report provides a valuable insight into these fascinating marine animals. I welcome the Seals Committee's endorsement of our new Marine Act and I agree that it will help secure an improved balance between seal conservation and welfare and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture.
"While it's unlikely that any single factor is responsible for this decline in common seals, competition for food supplies with the larger, more numerous grey seal could be a significant factor. We need to know more and our research into common seal diet will deliver answers and help shape future policy.
"Of course, Scotland is already taking decisive action to protect our seals. For the first time, it will be illegal to shoot a seal at any time of the year, unless a licence has been granted under very strict conditions. Penalties for shooting seals will be strengthened to include possible imprisonment alongside a new licensing and reporting system."
Professor Ian Boyd, director of the Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews, said:
"Scotland's Marine Act is welcomed by the research community. It leans heavily upon the principles of evidence-based management and, where seals are concerned, it will lead to a more coherent approach to the incorportation of scientific knowledge into decisions. The SCOS report is underpinned by a robust process whereby Government can obtain independent and authoritative scientific advice.
"This has already proved to be successful in a number of ways, such as in the Moray Firth, and we expect that the link between science and decision-making will bring wider benefits as we move towards more integrated approaches to the management of the marine environment."
The SCOS Report 2009 provides scientific advice on matters related to the management of seal populations. The revised grey seal figure of 186,000 does not represent a sudden increase in their numbers. An improved model based on the best scientific advice available has revised previous underestimates of numbers. Analysis of grey seal pup production in 2008, which is the basis for all population modelling, indicates the underlying population trend is stable or increasing slowly.
The minimum figure of 19,800 for common seals is based on seals found ashore during 2008 surveys and the total population, including seals at sea, probably lies somewhere between 33,000 and 38,000. The local declines in common seal numbers since 2000 now stand at 50 per cent in the Firth of Tay, over 60 per cent in Orkney, and over 40 per cent in Shetland. The latest surveys show common seal numbers in Western Isles down by around 35 per cent since the mid 1990s.
A major research programme is underway to seek to establish the proximate causes of these localised declines and inform future action. It is unlikely that any single factor is responsible. It is already clear that local shooting and disease do not explain the significant reductions reported. It is considered that killer whale predation is one factor round the Northern Isles, whilst competition for food supplies with larger and more numerous grey seals is likely to be a significant factor across Scotland as a whole. The new common seal diet study will further explore the issue of competition with grey seals and a bio-toxin contamination study will examine this as a potential factor in common seal decline.
A seal conservation order has been in place since 2007 to protect common seals in the Northern Isles and along the east coast. The Scottish Seal Forum, which will meet in the summer, will be asked to consider similar additional protection for common seals in the Western Isles.