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Publication - Statistics

Seal licensing records: 2011-present

Published
4 December 2019
Directorate
Marine Directorate
Topic
Marine and fisheries

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

Supporting documents

Marine Scotland received 48 applications for seal licences and 43 licences have been granted. (Three licences are pending approval.)

Table 1 below provides a full breakdown. (This information is correct as of 31 January 2017.)

TABLE 1
           
 
Application Type
 
 
Licence Type
 

 
 
Seal Management Area
Protection of Health and Welfare
Prevention of Serious Damage
Total
Protection of Health and 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

2

5

3

2

5

South-West Scotland

2

2

4

2

2

4

Western Isles

7

2

9

7

2

9

West Scotland

13

3

16

13

3

16
             

Grand Total

27

20

47

27

20

47

The 28 licences issued for protection of health and welfare and one issued for prevention of serious damage, cover a total of 175 individual fish farms.

The maximum number of seals involved is 245 Grey and 113 Common. Table 2 below provides details. This maximum represents less than 0.1% of the Grey Seal population of 120,000 and 0.1% of the minimum Common Seal population of 25,400. (This information is correct as at 31 March 2018.)

TABLE 2a

 Grey Seals            

Seal Management Area

Grey Seals Applied For

PBR*

Grey Seals Granted

 Grey Seals Shot: Quarter 1 Grey Seals Shot: Quarter 2 Grey Seals Shot: Quarter 3 Grey Seals Shot: Quarter 4

East Coast

33

352

14

 0 0 2 0

Moray Firth

40

294

18

 6 2 4 5

Orkney & North Coast

128

1245

56

 0 0 1 0

Shetland

54

239

44

 5 0 2 1

South-West Scotland

54

57

12

 0 0 0 1

Western Isles

 165 620 37 3 0 4 7

West Scotland

182

777

64

 3 1 6 0
               

Grand Total

656

3584

245

 17 3 19 14

The maximum number of Grey Seals allowed on licences granted in 2017 represents over 10% reduction on numbers involved in the previous year's licences, and an over 80% reduction since the system was introduced in 2011.

TABLE 2b

 Common Seals            

Seal Management Area

Common Seals Applied For

PBR*

Common Seals Granted

 Common Seals Shot: Quarter 1 Common Seals Shot: Quarter 2 Common Seals Shot: Quarter 3 Common Seals Shot: Quarter 4

East Coast

9

1

0

 0 0 0 0

Moray Firth

6

4

0

 0 0 0 0

Orkney & North Coast

13

11

0

 0 0 0 0

Shetland

4

20

3

 0 0 0 0

South-West Scotland

78

50

13

 0 0 0 0

Western Isles

 63 82 16 0 0 1 2

West Scotland

204

637

81

 7 0 6 3
               

Grand Total

377

805

113

 7 0 7 5

The maximum number of Common Seals allowed on licences granted in 2017 represents a reduction of 1.7% compared to the previous year's licences, and a 64% reduction since the system was introduced in 2011.

*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 2017, by region and company, with the number of seals shot so far, by site, is available to download.

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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