- Last orders on the RSPCA's abuse of "last resort" killing of seals?
Download the press release in full as a PDF online here
Faced with a barrage of negative public disclosures on seal shootings, the Scottish salmon farming industry has finally bitten the bullet and installed anti-predator nets. Exclusive figures obtained via Freedom of Information from the Scottish Government, reveals that the use of anti-predator nets on salmon farms leapt from 13% in 2011 to 79% in 2014 [1]. At the same time the number of seals killed on salmon farms fell from 241 to 80 [2].
Read more in today's Herald newspaper: "RSPCA defend record as anti-seal cull campaigners allege salmon farms are not 'last resort' killers"
"This could be the final nail in the coffin of 'seal-unfriendly' Scottish salmon," said Don Staniford, Director of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture. "The leap in the use of anti-predator nets shows the power of Freedom of Information and public disclosure. The naming and shaming of companies killing seals has forced the industry to buy nets instead of bullets. These figures blow out of the water the industry's claim that seals are shot as a 'last resort'. Even now, one in five salmon farms are still not using anti-predator nets and the use of seal blinds has fallen to less than 18%. Seal-friendly Scottish salmon is within easy reach - it just requires trigger-happy salmon farmers to stop reaching for their guns first! This New Year we're calling last orders on the Scottish salmon farming industry's abuse of the definition of 'last resort' and the senseless slaughter of seals."
Shamefully, the RSPCA as well as other certification bodies such as the Soil Association and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council sanction the killing of seals as a 'last resort' [3]. The RSPCA brands over 70% of Scottish farmed salmon as 'welfare friendly' via the RSPCA Assured (formerly Freedom Food) scheme (read more via "RSPCA Assured seal killers!").
"The RSPCA, who certify over 70% of Scottish farmed salmon as 'welfare friendly', must now tighten the net on salmon farms who shoot seals first rather than as a 'last resort'," continued Staniford. "Bullets are clearly cheaper than anti-predator nets but companies such as Grieg have shown that seal-friendly salmon is attainable quickly and painlessly. Shamefully, Marine Harvest, Scottish Seafarms and the Scottish Salmon Company are still killing seals across Scotland during 2015 and must surely be expelled from the RSPCA Assured scheme. Until all salmon farms install anti-predator nets and seal blinds consumers should boycott all Scottish salmon."
In November, GAAIA wrote to the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (Dr. Aileen McLeod) and Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment (Richard Lochhead) asking for clarification on the definition of 'last resort'. "How can the shooting of seals be deemed 'last resort' when all other options have not been tried first?" asked GAAIA [4].
In December, GAAIA wrote to Her Majesty the Queen (in her capacity as Royal Patron of the RSPCA), asking her to personally intervene to stop the slaughter of seals at salmon farms across Scotland (read letter online here).
"For around £1 million the RSPCA has sold their soul to the devil in the shape of the predominantly Norwegian-owned 'Scottish' salmon farming industry," concluded Staniford. "To rank the welfare of foreign-owned and factory farmed Atlantic salmon above wild Scottish seals is ethically and morally bankrupt. The RSPCA's certification of 'Scottish' salmon as welfare-friendly represents an abrogation of the RSPCA's guiding principles and founding values. If the RSPCA had any conscience at all about Atlantic salmon then they would not certify the factory farming of a migratory species. Cramming Atlantic salmon in cages is akin to farming Golden eagles in battery cages like intensively farmed chickens."
Watch a video report shot outside the RSPCA's head office earlier this month - online here
Read more via:
- Dear RSPCA, please wash the blood of Scottish seals off your hands!
- Video Message to the RSPCA - stop the killing of seals on salmon farms!
- Photos: RSPCA Assured Seal Killers!
- "Anti-salmon farm campaigners petition Queen over RSPCA’s seal-shooting sanction"
- Petition to the RSPCA: End your support for the killing of Scottish seals!
- Press Release: "RSPCA Savaged Over Seal Killing in Scotland"
- Letter to Her Majesty the Queen
- RSPCA Assured Seal Killers!
- RSPCA upsets people by saying seal shooting is OK
- RSPCA attacked for its policy on seal shooting
- RSPCA: Seals should be shot as an 'absolute last resort' to protect salmon
An exclusive analysis by GAAIA of all the data made available by the Scottish Government (i.e. for the first two quarters of 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012 and 2011) reveals that nearly 700 seals have been killed by salmon farmers since 2011 when official Scottish Government statistics were first collected. Scottish Seafarms (who exclusively supply Marks & Spencer) are Scotland's worst serial killers with 150 dead seals followed by Grieg Seafood Hjaltland (136 seals killed), the Scottish Salmon Company (128 seals killed) and Marine Harvest (76 seals killed).
Read more via:
- Supermarkets: Stop Killing Seals at Salmon Farms!
- Scottish Salmon Blinded by Seal Killing
- Salmon farmers are shooting seals instead of installing non-lethal deterrents, campaigners say
- Seal killing slips through the net
- RSPCA Assured Seal Killers!
- M&S Caught in Cross-Fire Over Seal-Killing on Scottish Salmon Farms
- Stop shooting seals for salmon meals - protest outside M&S in Edinburgh
- Shetland Times: "Steps taken to reduce number of seals killed"
- Stop shooting seals for salmon meals!
- Did a seal die for your salmon meal?
- Cecil the Seal Killers Named & Shamed in Scotland - Call for Boycott of "Seal Unfriendly" Scottish Salmon
Download press release in full (including Notes to Editors) online here
Comments