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Protected mammals - Seals
What are they?
There are two species of seal found around the Scottish coast - the common seal and the grey seal. Common seals occur in the north Atlantic and north Pacific. There are about 83,000 common seals in Europe; 35 % of these are found in the UK and 83 % of these in Scotland.
Grey seals are found only in the north Atlantic, the Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea. They are one of the rarer seal species with a world population of only 350,000- 400,000. About 40 % of the world population live in the UK, and about 90 % of these live in Scotland.
Protection
On the 1st February 2011 it became an offence to kill, injure or take a seal at any time of year except to alleviate suffering or where a licence has been issued to do so by Marine Scotland under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 
. The method of killing or taking seals is detailed in licences issued and regular reporting is required. Under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 it will also be an offence to intentionally or recklessly harass seals at significant haul-out sites when these have been designated. The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (as amended) also prohibits certain methods of catching or killing seals.
Licences
Marine Scotland are the licensing authority for seals under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 and licences are issued annually authorising the killing or taking of seals for a number of activities including research, to protect the health and welfare of farmed fish and to prevent serious damage to fisheries or fish farms. Before granting a seal licence Marine Scotland must have regard to any information they have about damage which seals have already done to the fishery or fish farm concerned and the effectiveness of non-lethal alternative methods of preventing seal damage to the fishery or fish farm concerned.
Licences can include the method of killing or taking the seals, the maximum number of seals that can be killed or taken and details on the steps which must be taken in order to reduce the risk of unnecessary suffering if a seal is injured while attempting to kill or take it. A seal licence that authorises killing should specify the type of firearm which must be used, the weather conditions in which a person may attempt to shoot a seal, the distance the person should be away from the animal while shooting and prohibit shooting from an unstable platform. It can also include information on the recovery of the carcass and may include other conditions such as areas where shooting can take place, species of seal that can be taken or killed, the circumstances in which seals may be taken or killed and any period when they may not be taken or killed.
Licence applications are assessed against Potential Biological Removal (PBR) for each of the seven Management Regions (East coast, Moray Firth, Shetland, Orkney and the North coast, Outer Hebrides, West Highland, South-West Scotland) which have been defined by SMRU to include a metapopulation of seals. 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 SMRU using the latest seal counts.
Reporting
The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 also imposes a duty on licence holders to report the number of seals killed or taken in accordance with the licence. They must also submit a nil return if no seals are taken or killed during the reporting period. The reporting period is likely to be 3 months at least in the early stages of the new licensing procedure.
Harrassment at haul-out sites
Under Part 6 of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 it will also be an offense to harass seals intentionally or recklessly at significant haul-out sites. Significant haul-outs are being defined by the Sea Mammal Research Unit based on their aerial seal counts and will be designated soon following a period of consultation. Significant haul-outs will be updated annually based on the most up to date seal counts.
The Scottish Marine Wildlife Watching Code provides guidance to those wishing to observe seals and other marine wildlife.
Seal Conservation Areas
The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 also provides for Scottish Ministers to designate "seal conservation areas". The areas previously covered by the Conservation of Seal (Scotland) Orders namely Shetland, Orkney, the Moray Firth and the East Coast of Scotland have been transcribed into seal conservation areas and in addition the Outer Hebrides has also been scheduled as a seal conservation area under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. Marine Scotland must not grant a seal licence authorising the killing or taking of seals in a seal conservation area unless they are satisfied that there is no satisfactory alternative way of achieving the purpose for which the licence is granted, and that the killing or taking authorised by the licence will not be detrimental to the maintenance of the population of any species of seal at a favourable conservation status in their natural range (within the meaning of Article 1(e) of the Habitats Directive).
More information is available at: www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/Licensing/SealLicensing
You can contact Marine Scotland at: marinescotland@scotland.gsi.gov.uk or by writing to: The Scottish Government, Victoria Quay. Edinburgh, EH6 6QQ
*Please Note* The summary of legislation and list of offences on this page are not comprehensive, and is intended for use as a guide only. For a definitive list of offences you should consult the actual legislation . It is also important to note that this is the law in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK the legislation may differ.