Seal licensing records: 2011-present

Records of seal licenses granted across Scotland since the coming in to force of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010.


Marine Scotland received 47 applications for seal licences and all have been granted. 

Table 1 below provides a full breakdown. (This information is correct as of 31 January 2020.)

Table 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Application Type Received

 

Licence Type Granted

 

Seal Management Area

Protection of Health & Welfare

Prevention of Serious Damage

Total

Protection of Health & Welfare

Prevention of Serious Damage

Total

East Coast

0

5

5

0

5

5

Moray Firth

0

1

1

0

1

1

Orkney & North Coast

2

5

7

2

5

7

Shetland

3

0

3

3

0

3

South West Scotland

2

2

4

2

2

4

Western Isles

7

5

12

7

5

12

West Scotland

13

3

16

13

3

16

Total

27

21

48

27

21

48

The 27 licences issued for protection of health and welfare and one issued for prevention of serious damage, cover a total of 213 individual fish farms. The other 20 licences issued for prevention of serious damage cover rivers and estate fisheries.

The maximum number of seals involved is 228 Grey and 102 Common. Tables 2 and 3 below provide details. This maximum represents 0.21% of the Grey seal population of 106,250 and 0.38% of the minimum Common seal population of 26,565 (Ref: SCOS-BP 18/08).

Table 2 – Grey Seal

 

 

 

Grey Seals Shot

Seal Management Area

Total applied for

PBR*

Total  granted

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

East Coast

24

871

14

0

0

0

 

Moray Firth

40

178

18

0

1

3

 

Orkney and North Coast

123

2,249

45

4

3

3

 

Shetland

40

360

34

6

4

0

 

South West Scotland

30

119

11

4

1

0

 

Western Isles

177

1,336

47

2

3

5

 

West Scotland

200

966

59

3

3

1

 

Total

633

6,079

228

19

15

12

 

The maximum number of Grey seals allowed on licences granted in 2020 represents a decrease of 3.0% compared to the previous year’s licences.

Table 3 – Common Seal

 

 

 

Common Seals Shot

Seal Management Area

Total applied for

PBR*

Total  granted

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

East Coast

10

2

0

0

0

0

 

Moray Firth

6

5

0

0

0

0

 

Orkney and North Coast

10

8

0

0

0

0

 

Shetland

4

20

3

0

0

0

 

South West Scotland

28

71

12

6

1

0

 

Western Isles

66

105

17

2

1

0

 

West Scotland

211

936

70

5

3

9

 

Total

335

1,147

102

13

5

9

 

The maximum number of Common seals allowed on licences granted in 2020 represents a decrease of 8.1% compared to the previous year’s licences.

*Potential Biological Removal (PBR) is the number of individual seals that can be removed from the population without causing a decline in the population, and is calculated annually by Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) using the latest seal counts.

A full list of licences issued in 2020 by region and company, with the number of seals shot so far, by site, is available to download in the supporting files on this page.

For more information, a series of frequently asked questions and answers on the implementation of the new seal legislation was produced 2011.

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