News
Hundreds of seals are being secretly slaughtered by Britain’s fish farming industry
Seal cubs in the UK are being left to starve to death as their mothers are slaughtered by Britain’s fish farming industry.
Hundreds of the protected animals are being secretly shot along the nation’s coast every year, yet the culling is legal.
In Scotland alone, 205 seals were killed in 2014 as farmers looked to protect their stocks of salmon and other fish.
But campaigners claim this is the tip of the iceberg as those figures are not independently verified and kills are not recorded for the rest of the UK.
Andy Ottaway, director of the Seal Protection Action Group, said: “There’s a lot of prejudice against seals and people see them as pests.
“Before we had an organised cull which was stopped by public opinion. But this is an ongoing cull that goes on all year.
“And it is leaving young pups to starve when their mothers are killed.
“People eating Scottish salmon don’t realise the price seals are paying.
The animals are a protected species under EU law but there are exceptions for killing them to protect fish or equipment.
In Scotland farmers and waterways managers need a licence to cull seals.
They have to stick to quotas and record numbers killed, but there is no such requirement for the rest of the UK.
Describing the problem of baby seals being left to die, Mr Ottaway said: “If there’s a weaning pup and its mum has been killed, it won’t go back to feed it and it starves.
“The licence in Scotland allows seals to be shot all year round which means they are shot in the breeding season.
“When the licence was introduced we asked for at least a ban during the breeding season but the Scottish government said no.
“If you’re shooting them throughout breeding season there’s a high probability you’re shooting mothers. A quarter to half of them will be with pups.”
Mr Ottaway said the scale of the slaughter was unclear in the rest of the UK.
He continued: “Around the North there are salmon rivers and we know seals are being shot there.
“There was a case in South Shields when someone was shooting seals from a boat.
“People reported him to the police and when officers turned up they had to tell them it’s perfectly legal. It’s terrible.”
Holidaymakers in Scotland have been left equally shocked by the killing.
Mr Ottaway said: “People do not realise that behind the scenes wholesale slaughter is going on.
“Visitors have been left horrified when they have been on holiday and seen seals being shot at the beach in front of them and their children.”
Figures from Scotland show a decline in kills from 459 in 2011 to 433 in 2012, 274 in 2013 and 205 in 2014.
This year the Government has authorised the deaths of up to 859 – 662 grey seals and 197 common seals.
But campaigners argue none should die and demanded companies invested in nets and acoustic deterrents.
Mr Ottaway said: “The bullet is a cheap and permanent solution for those that dislike seals and blame them for fish crashes caused by over-fishing.
“Anywhere where there is salmon netting or angling there is a likelihood of seals being ‘controlled’.”
He spoke amid global outrage at the start of the Canadian seal cull, where up to 468,000 will be hunted for their pelts.
There have been no organised culls in Britain since 1978 but fish farmers still insist they need to control them.
The Scottish salmon industry alone produces 155,000 tons of fish a year, has annual exports of more than £285million and employs thousands of people.
Scott Landsburgh, head of the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation, said: “We have championed deterrence techniques that are designed to keep seals away from our fish, and shooting is always last resort.
“When a determined seal attacks fish in our pens it can kill and damage large numbers and it is important that we do whatever we can to reduce the chances of this happening.”
But Mimi Bekhechi, of animal rights group PETA, insisted: “There is no justification for shooting beautiful animals to protect the cruel and unnecessary fish-farming industry.”
A spokesman for another campaign group, Sea Shepherd UK, added: “Typically every year over 300 seals are declared as having been shot – but this official declared number come solely from the companies and individuals who pull the triggers of the guns.
“Sea Shepherd UK is convinced the real number of seals shot greatly exceeds this official number and some conservation groups have previously claimed up to 2,000 grey and common seals are shot around Scotland’s coast.”
Source: www.mirror.co.uk
The Ocean Cleanup, the global non-profit project, has removed a verified all-time total of ten million kilograms (22 million lbs.) of trash from oceans and rivers around the world – approximately the same weight as the Eiffel Tower.
To complete its mission of ridding the oceans of plastic, The Ocean Cleanup uses a dual strategy: cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) to remove the plastic already afloat in the oceans, while stopping the flow of plastic from the world’s most polluting rivers.
Through cleaning operations in the GPGP and in rivers in eight countries, the cumulative total of trash removed has now surpassed ten million kilograms. This milestone demonstrates the acceleration of The Ocean Cleanup’s impact, while underlining the astonishing scale of the plastic pollution problem and the need for continued support and action.
While encouraging for the mission, this milestone is only a staging point: millions more tons of plastic still pollute our oceans and The Ocean Cleanup intends to continue learning, improving and innovating to solve this global catastrophe.
This announcement comes as governments from around the world meet to continue negotiations to develop a new legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution at INC4 in Ottawa, Canada. Representatives of The Ocean Cleanup will be in attendance and the organization will be urging decision-makers to collaborate towards a comprehensive and ambitious global treaty which addresses plastic at all stages of its life cycle and in all marine environments worldwide, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
It is encouraging to see that the need for remediation is reflected in the various options for potential treaty provisions. It is essential that the final treaty contains clear targets for the remediation of legacy plastic pollution, and reduction of riverine plastic emissions.
Tackling plastic pollution requires innovative and impactful solutions. The treaty should therefore incentivize the innovation ecosystem by fostering innovations that make maximal use of data, technology and scientific knowledge – such as those designed and deployed by The Ocean Cleanup.
‘After many tough years of trial and error, it’s amazing to see our work is starting to pay off – and I am proud of the team who has brought us to this point.’ said Boyan Slat, Founder and CEO of The Ocean Cleanup. ‘While we still have a long way to go, our recent successes fill us with renewed confidence that the oceans can be cleaned.’
The Ocean Cleanup was founded in 2013 and captured its first plastic in 2019, with the first confirmed catch in the GPGP coming soon after the deployment of Interceptor 001 in Jakarta, Indonesia. After surpassing one million kilograms of trash removed in early 2022, the non-profit project has since progressed to the third iteration of its GPGP cleaning solution, known as System 03, and a network of Interceptors currently covering rivers in eight countries, with more deployments set for 2024.
About The Ocean Cleanup
The Ocean Cleanup is an international non-profit organization that develops and scales technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. They aim to achieve this goal through a dual strategy: stemming the inflow via rivers and cleaning up the legacy plastic that has already accumulated in the ocean. For the latter, The Ocean Cleanup develops large-scale systems to efficiently concentrate the plastic for periodic removal. This plastic is tracked and traced through DNV’s chain of custody model to certify claims of origin when recycling it into new products. To curb the tide via rivers, The Ocean Cleanup has developed Interceptor™ solutions to halt and extract riverine plastic before it reaches the ocean. Founded in 2013 by Boyan Slat, The Ocean Cleanup now employs a broadly multi-disciplined team of approximately 140. The foundation is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
For more information, visit: theoceancleanup.com and follow @theoceancleanup on social media.
Marine Life & Conservation
Steve Backshall to headline Shark Trust’s flagship event: For the Love of Sharks
Join a host of amazing, shark loving, speakers including Steve Backshall and the Shark Trust team for an evening celebrating shark conservation at the Royal Geographical Society in London this November.
Date: 29th November 2024
Time: 6-10pm
Location: Royal Geographical Society, London
Tickets: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
The event will be a celebration of all things shark. Those lucky enough to get hold of tickets will hear from engaging guest speakers with a passion for sharks.
The line-up includes (*subject to change if unforeseen circumstances arise)
Steve Backshall: One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve has been passionate about the wild world ever since he was young.
Steve’s impressive TV career has taken him all around the world, investigating a wide array of species and environments. Steve has filmed over 100 hours of children’s wildlife programmes with the BAFTA award winning Deadly 60 franchise and recently, with Sky Nature, for his new series ‘Whale with Steve Backshall’. He has been a patron for the Shark Trust for 10 years.
Simon Rogerson: is a photojournalist specialising in natural history, diving and the sea.
He is editor of SCUBA magazine, the official journal of the British Sub-Aqua Club. Simon started his career as a crime reporter but gravitated towards his ‘less depressing’ interest in underwater exploration, joining the staff of DIVE magazine in 1999. In 2005 he was named ‘Editor of the Year’ in the PPA’s Independent Publishing Awards. Simon also works as a freelance writer, contributing frequently to the Sunday Times and Telegraph, in addition to BBC Wildlife, Esquire, and a host of international diving magazines. He is the author of a book, Dive Red Sea, published by Ultimate Sports. Now based in Berkshire, Simon has been a Patron of the Shark Trust for 20 years.
More speakers to be announced soon. Head to the Shark Trust website to learn more.
The evening will also allow guests the final chance to see the Oceanic 31, shark art exhibition. Some of the artwork will be auctioned/raffled at the event, while the rest will be auctioned online to raise money for the Shark Trust Oceanic Programme.
For the Love of Sharks is an evening with something for everyone who is interested and fascinated by sharks. Join the Shark Trust, their Patrons, Trustees and Staff, along with a host of supporters for this celebration of shark conservation.
For more information or to buy a ticket: https://www.sharktrust.org/Event/flos24
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