Scottish bill threatens pregnant seals

A new marine bill allows for the shooting of seals during breeding season. This callous policy would damage Scotland’s reputation.

Terry Nutkins. I have spent all my life living close to the sea. I am extremely lucky to be able to see seals and many other marine mammals on a regular basis.

Seals are fascinating creatures – beautiful and intelligent. Here in the UK we are privileged to have internationally important populations of both grey and harbour seals. About 90% of these seals are in Scottish waters, so their fate is determined by laws made by their guardians, the Scottish parliament and Scottish government. Yet many people are unaware that thousands of seals are shot every year around our coast. They are shot by fish farmers, commercial fishermen and anglers. Their crime for their death sentence? They eat fish.

The seas are the natural home of marine animals such as seals. What we human beings have to remember is that the seas belong to them. We don’t have the right to enter their world and brutally kill them simply because they are behaving naturally. We must share and manage the seas in a responsible way to create a sustainable relationship for humans as well as marine life.

A new Scottish marine bill is being produced – shockingly, the new law may allow seals to be shot during their breeding seasons. When a heavily pregnant seal is killed, her unborn pup will also die. Dependent pups may take days or even weeks to starve to death if they lose their mother to a bullet. This would be a truly inhumane and callous way to treat any animal. I have written to the Scottish parliament’s environment and rural affairs committee asking it to amend the current draft bill.

I personally do not believe that the law should allow any seals to be killed. Opinion polls have shown that most people have the same view. However, if any seals are to be killed this must only ever be done as a very last resort and in the most humane manner. It can never be acceptable to allow these animals to be killed during their breeding seasons. They must be protected at this time, like many other mammals.

This is a crucial week for the fate of our seals. For the sake of Scotland’s reputation as a forward-thinking compassionate country, I hope that the politicians take the ethical choice and prevent baby seals from being orphaned and left to starve to death on our beaches. I agree with what Gandhi said: that the greatness of a nation, and its moral progress, can be measured by the way its animals are treated. Surely these magnificent animals deserve to be treated with compassion and respect. Please help Advocates for Animals’s campaign to protect seals at http://www.onekind.org.uk.

The planet has never been more threatened by a self-destructive species known as humankind. If we do not learn now how to live in harmony with all the creatures on it, we will lose them forever.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/nov/30/scottish-marine-bill-pregnant-seals