Official Response from the Prime Minister's Office

This is the "official" response to the No. 10 Petition:
If this is the best that the Prime Minister can do; roll on the election!
I'll explain why very soon.


The official site of the Prime Minister’s Office

Home > Stopsealshooting - epetition response

Friday 6 November 2009
Stopsealshooting - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to stop shooting seals: British seals should have the same protection as dolphins and otters.”

Details of Petition:
“Seals are sentient mammals that experience pain, distress, fear and other forms of suffering. Britain’s Common Seal population is in a catastrophic decline. There is no “humane” method of shooting seals whilst they are in the water and shooting from an unstable platform is “inherently inhumane”. Shooting continues throughout the “close” season and seal pups can take weeks to die following the death of their mother, stress and starvation is terrible. Scientific evidence shows that only a very small percentage of identifiable seals target fin fish farms, salmon netsmen’s nets and salmon rivers, Non-lethal methods to prevent seals from damaging aquaculture interests exist; there is no need to shoot seals . There is no protection for preventing “harassment” of seals even in protected areas and no requirement to report the number of seals shot. Species “confusion” is common place when shooting; therefore protection should be given to both of Britain’s resident seal species: Grey and Common Seals (Halichoerus grypus and Phoca vitulina vitulina).”

Read the Government’s response
Seal conservation is a devolved issue, therefore this reply relates only to the situation in England. If you have concerns relating to the killing of seals in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland you may wish to contact the appropriate devolved administration.
There is no evidence that the killing or disturbance of seals in England is significant and having an adverse effect on the conservation status of the UK populations as a whole. We are not aware of any evidence that commercial or recreational hunting of seals or widespread killing by aquaculture and fishery interests is taking place in England.

The most recent update on the UK seal population based on current scientific evidence (2008) indicates that phocine distemper virus (PDV) outbreaks of 1988 and 2002 caused a decline in common seal populations on the east coast of England (mainly in The Wash). However, while the population has yet to recover, there has been no indication that the population has declined further since the last outbreak, and it is expected to recover. Latest scientific advice also shows that the UK grey seal population is reaching full carrying capacity and beginning to stabilise after years of growth.
Seals are primarily protected in England by the Conservation of Seals Act 1970. Under the 1970 Act, it is an offence to take or kill common and grey seals out of season or to use certain methods to kill or take, unless permitted to do so by a licence issued under section 10 of the 1970 Act. No such licences have been granted in England since 2005, despite claims to the contrary in the media.
The 1970 Act also allows the Secretary of State, if it appears necessary for the proper conservation of seals, to prohibit by way of an order the killing, injuring or taking of either or both common and grey seals in any area specified in the order. There is currently such an order (The Conservation of Seals (England) Order 1999) which protects grey and common seals on the east coast of England in order to allow common seal numbers to recover from the PDV outbreaks. Given the distribution of seal populations in England, this Order has the net effect of providing protection for almost all common seals and the majority of grey seals in England.
While fishermen are permitted to kill or take, without the need for a licence, any seal during the close season or in an area where there is a killing or taking prohibition as prescribed in an order, it can only be to protect their fishing equipment or fish therein and the seal must be in the vicinity of said equipment at that time. Any person wanting to shoot seals must use an appropriate firearm and possess a firearms certificate which includes permission to shoot seals. In the UK the possession of firearms is strictly controlled by the police. The 1970 Act therefore only allows limited local action to be taken against individual seals. It does not permit widespread control.
Before sanctioning the killing of a problem animal, we would expect that
• all other less severe methods of resolving the problem have been shown to be ineffective or impractical and not just difficult to implement,
• damage is sufficient to warrant the action and
• the action would reduce, or prevent from increasing, the damage in question
As well as the Conservation of Seals Act 1970, the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 (S.I. 1994 No. 2716) prohibits other methods of killing or taking common or grey seals, including those which are indiscriminate and capable of causing the local disappearance of, or serious disturbance to, a population. Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal under the control of man. This applies to the humane despatch of captured animals. Protection from intentionally cruel acts is afforded under the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996.
The 1994 Regulations also prohibit any form of taking or killing of common or grey seals from certain modes of transport, namely; aircraft or moving motor vehicles. A territorial condition may also be applied to the firearms certificate restricting the use of the firearms to specified land deemed suitable. “Land” in this context includes open water.
The person taking the shot will need to consider these issues and assess conditions on a case by case basis. Clearly if the conditions do not allow for a humane and safe kill then a shot should not be attempted. A boat may or may not be a suitably stable platform from which to effect a clean or safe kill. Each case would be judged on its merits and it would be for a court to decide as to whether an offence had been committed.
Those shot or taken under a licence issued under the 1970 Act, must be reported as a condition of that licence. The 1970 Act only allows individual problem seals to be shot in the close season or in areas covered by Conservation Orders without any reporting requirement.
Within Special Areas of Conservation, designated for the protection of certain species, natural habitats and habitats of species under the Habitats Regulations, competent authorities have to take appropriate steps to avoid significant disturbance to the species concerned or deterioration of their habitat. This includes those designated for Grey or Common seals.
Government policy is that individuals should be free to manage wild animals within the law, and Government will only intervene when there is good reason to do so. Taking this into account we feel the 1970 Act in combination with other legislation is the appropriate mechanism for protecting seals in England as it strikes the right and proportionate balance between the conservation of the seals and the needs of those who seals impact upon. This is achieved by allowing individuals to control seals where necessary; setting minimum welfare standards by prohibiting certain methods of killing as well as close seasons to protect dependent young; and allowing conservation orders to be taken to protect populations should they be shown to be in decline




Please ask your Parliamentary Members to get the facts about seals and Highly Protected Marine Areas. Find your MP/MSP/MEP at www.writetothem.com

“Plea for Government action as holiday family finds shot seal”

During my seal and Marine Protected Area campaign I have been asked to write for the online news and information service ForArgyll; the most recent story is one which I think is typical and is having an adverse effect on Scotland’s tourist industry: This story concerns a young family coming across a dead shot seal, you can follow the full story here; http://forargyll.com/2009/11/plea-for-government-action-as-holiday-family-finds-shot-seal/ .

This story is gaining momentum and I am currently awaiting replies from several sources for the next instalment: Watch this space and ForArgyll http://forargyll.com .

One month ago I and a few colleagues from Hebridean Partnership www.hebrideanpartnership.org had a meeting with the Tourist Minister Jim Mather, expressing our concern about numerous abuses to the marine environment and the effects that they are having on the lucrative tourist industry. The latest reported figures indicate that tourism is worth £4 Billion to the Scottish economy, and is vitally important in remote and rural locations especially on the islands.

The Minister agreed to write to the Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, regarding these issues and I have heard back today that the Minister still has not received a reply. I will keep you updated.

Have you been to Youtube Seals and Seas Yet and you can have your say on my Facebook Wall:
http://www.youtube.com/user/seasfree and
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000336590722&ref=profile

Please ask your Parliamentary Members to get the facts about seals and Highly Protected Marine Areas. Find your MP/MSP/MEP at www.writetothem.com

Youtube Seals and Seas

I guess that I have now entered the 21st Century proper: I've been convinced to post things on Youtube and Facebook: But it seems to be working!

See what you think,http://www.youtube.com/group/sealsandseas and please feel free to comment and pass it on.

Many thanks, Mark

Update:
I guess that I'm not that good on these sites, getting to old for this sort of thing; try:http://www.youtube.com/user/seasfree



Have you been to Youtube Seals and Seas Yet:
http://www.youtube.com/user/seasfree

Please ask your Parliamentary Members to get the facts about seals and Highly Protected Marine Areas. Find your MP/MSP/MEP at www.writetothem.com

No. 10 Petitions

The official site of the Prime Minister’s Office: E-Petitions
The site now shows; “This petition is now closed, as its deadline has passed”,-
Submitted by Mark Carter of Marine Concern – Deadline to sign up by: 17 October 2009 – Signatures: 615. The petition can be viewed at: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/stopsealshooting/

Due to administrative delays, due to the large numbers of petitions, the setting of the petition on the government site was delayed. This had the effect of partially missing some of the hunger strike campaign period, as a result was extended to mid October. Even up to the last day the petition was growing and I believe would have reached 1000 by Christmas! Don’t take this number as low support, merely, not being able to access/notify enough people.

I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all that have signed; we now wait to see what action is to be taken. Judging by the recent DEFRA letters, don’t expect too much, if anything! DEFRA have stated that they “have no evidence”, of any seal shooting problem: as a former police officer, if I didn’t have the required “evidence” I would undertake investigation; it appears that DEFRA have no intention of doing so. Just because DEFRA don’t have any evidence does not mean that shooting is not occurring.

The latest DEFRA letter also cites the wrong Article from the Habitats Directive; they cite Article 6(2) a less stringent requirement for protection. The shooting is done by commercial industries which fall into the category of “Plans & Projects”, this is subject to Article 6(3), which is far more powerful and gives better protection to the designated features: We have been fighting these “Article problems” for a very long time with the Scottish Government; where civil servants constantly reply, “We are applying Article 6”, failing to answer the question or being drawn on the 6(2)/6(3) issue.

Another worrying development is with Marine Scotland, the new administration comprised of Fisheries Protection, Fisheries Research Services and the Scottish Government (NB: the omission of any environment led organisation), this is the new quango which will deal with just about all marine related matters in Scotland; fisheries, fisheries and ...well fisheries; the very same industry that has caused most of today’s marine crisis’ in the first place.

At the recent Marine Bill Conference, held in Edinburgh, I asked the Director of Marine Scotland,
“Non lethal methods exist for anti seal predation, why don’t seals have the same protection as dolphins and otters”?

The reply was at least honest, “I don’t know”. But I would have expected a further comment like, I will find out and get back to you, but nothing, not even a hint of concern, is this what the future holds for marine issues in Scotland?


Please ask your Parliamentary Members to get the facts about seals and Highly Protected Marine Areas. Find your MP/MSP/MEP at www.writetothem.com

Please ask your Parliamentary Members to get the facts about seals and Highly Protected Marine Areas. Find your MP/MSP/MEP at www.writetothem.com