Seal Management Areas

What is it: 

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 makes it an offence to shoot seals in Scotland. There is provision for licences to be issued for limited seal management if strict legal tests are met where it is necessary to avoid damage to fisheries or fish farms.

For the purposes of considering licence applications to shoot seals the coast has been divided into seven seal management areas: East coast, Moray Firth, Orkney and North Coast, Shetland, Western Isles, West Highlands and South-west Scotland. The number of seals licensed to be shot in any seal management area will be determined on an annual basis, based on the most recent data on seal population size and the underlying trend in their numbers.

 

Links to Scotland's Marine Atlas: 
This information page is part of the theme: 
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