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02/25/2021

FOI opens sealed documents on killing by salmon farms

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #1

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #2

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #3

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #4

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #5

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #6

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #7

 

Media Backgrounder FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms Feb 2021 #8

 

Download in full via:

Media Backgrounder: FOI Opens Sealed Documents on Killing by Salmon Farms (February 2021)

 

Read FOI reply letter dated 1 February 2021:

Letter from the Scottish Government to Scottish Salmon Watch dated 1 February 2021 (FOI-202000118346)

 

 

Read more via:

Data Analysis of 1,000 Seals Killed by Salmon Farms (2011 to 2020) (February 2021)

 

Download Excel spreadsheet detailing over 1,000 seals killed by salmon farms since 2011 (as officially reported by the Scottish Government):

2020 to 2011 data analysed Feb 2021 (1,010 seals killed)

 

 

Download FOI documents disclosed on 1 February by the Scottish Government online via:

#1 Cooke Seal Licence

#2 Scottish Sea Farms Seal Licence

#3 Cooke Seal Licence

#6 Mowi Seal Licence

#8 The Scottish Salmon Company Seal Licence

#14 Loch Duart Seal Licence

#16 Mowi Seal Licence

#23 Kames Seal Licence

#24 Scottish Sea Farms Seal Licence

#31 NWSMG Seal Licence

#32 Grieg Seal Licence Skye

#39 not particularly good at providing photos

#41 Photo Mowi Loch Ewe dead seal flipper

#42 Photo Mowi Loch Ewe dead seal flipper close up

#43 Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Unit Mowi Loch Ewe seal killed without licence

#44 Police Scotland Wildlife Crime Unit Mowi Loch Ewe seal killed without licence

#46 Photo of Mowi Loch Ewe seal killed

#48 Photo of Mowi Loch Ewe seal killed flipper wound

#55 Scottish Sea Farms outwith their licence 14 Jan 2021

#59 Mowi misdemeanours will not be actioned April 2020

#60 Mowi warning letter May 2020

#66 The Scottish Salmon Company Seal something amiss in Loch Roag

#70 Mowi emails on Carradale

#71 Mowi Seal Licence Carradale

#73 never heard of a recovery of a dead seal

 

 

 

 

Appendix:

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Dec 2, 2020 at 8:11 AM
Subject: FOI re. seals killed by salmon farmers since 1 January 2020
To: <[email protected]>
 
Please provide information on seals killed (including the reporting of seals killed and any discussions on the killing of seals) by salmon farmers since 1 January 2020.
 
Please include data, copies of licences, returns, email correspondence, letters (e.g. to NOAA), Cabinet Briefings, discussions of seals being killed and reported and any other information relating to the killing of seals since 1 January 2020.
 
This information would certainly include any forms or data relating to seals killed to alleviate suffering as detailed via https://www.gov.scot/publications/marine-licensing-seals-killed-to-alleviate-suffering/
 
 
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In terms of data available, Scottish Salmon Watch cannot find any data online for 2020.
 
 
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The Scottish Government 'Progress Report' (28 September 2020) also stated:
 
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Please therefore provide the information "as soon as possible" - it appears strange that 2020 data was previously available for Q1 2020 but I cannot find it online now.  
 
Seal licence returns are available online for 2011 to 2019 via https://www.gov.scot/publications/marine-licensing-seal-license-returns-2011-18/
 
 
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The data for 2020 reported by OneKind and The Ferret in June 2020 appears to have vanished:
 
Please also provide any information since 1 January 2020 on seals killed illegally or unreported.  Scottish Salmon Watch received the following email in October 2020:
 
From:
Date: Thu, Oct 8, 2020 at 5:11 PM
Subject: Seal shooting
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>

I know an insider at [company name deleted] who confirms the company shoots a lot more seals than what they report. Plenty goes unreported.
 
 
 
Please consider this a FOI request under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
 
Please provide a receipt.
 
Please provide the information electronically in a reasonable format (e.g. do not provide Excel spreadsheets as PDFs as previous FOI replies have done so).  
 
Thanks,
 
Don Staniford
 
 
 

From: <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 1:19 PM
Subject: Your recent correspondence with Scottish Government and partner agencies - 202000118346
To: <[email protected]>

Please find attached a response to your correspondence.

 

Download letter as a PDF online here

 

73 PDFs of information were made available via Zip files - read more via FOI Backgrounder

 

 

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Feb 5, 2021 at 2:45 PM
Subject: FOI re. seals killed and injured by salmon farms since 1 January 2018
To: <[email protected]>

Please provide information on seals killed and injured by salmon farms since 1 January 2018.
 
Please include any photos, data, emails, letters, autopsies, correspondence and any other information relating to seals and salmon farms. 
 
Please include any information on recovery of carcasses - including any data analysis of previous years.  For example, the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture reported in 2015 via "Scottish Salmon Blinded by Seal Killing":
 
"Of the 51 seals killed this year (January to July 2015), zero carcasses were recovered or collected and only three were reported to the Scottish Marine Animal Strandings Scheme.  Out of 173 seals killed during 2013 and 2014 a total of 19 carcasses (11%) were reported, 16 carcasses recovered (9%) and only one carcass (<1%) collected (read more via "Appendix: Companies, Regions & Sites")." 
 
 
For example, a report form 2015 included data on recovery of carcasses:
 
image.png
 
 
 
An email obtained via FOI from the Scottish Government on 1 February 2021 (FOI-202000118346) detailed:
 
image.png

image.png
 
 
Please also include details of any discussions with salmon farming companies, the SSPCA, RSPCA, RSPCA Assured, Scottish Government or any other parties in relation to seals killed or injured by salmon farming.  For example, the following emails were obtained from the Scottish Government via FOI on 1 February 2021 (FOI-202000118346):
 
image.png
 
image.png

 
Please provide a receipt for this FOI request.
 
Please provide the information electronically.
 
Scottish Salmon Watch understands from your web-site that: "The Scottish Marine Animal Stranding Scheme (SMASS) has been in operation since 1992. It is part of the Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme, and is funded by the Scottish and Westminster government":
 
Hence we understand that you are subject to FOI law. 
 
Thanks,
 
Don Staniford
 
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch

 

 

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Feb 6, 2021 at 9:29 AM
Subject: Query re. 2019 seal killing data - Q4 data missing
To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>



 
 
If you open the 2019 Excel spreadsheet data for Q4 appears to be missing:
 
image.png
 
image.png
 
 
Could you please update the data so a full analysis of all seals killed by salmon farms since 2011 can be completed?
 
Thanks,
 
Don
 
 
 
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 10:33 AM
Subject: Addendum: FOI re. seals killed and injured by salmon farms since 1 January 2018
To: <[email protected]>

Please consider this a FOI request under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
 
Thanks,
 
Don
 
 
 
 
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2021 at 1:17 PM
Subject: FOI re. Licences to Kill Seals Issued by Police Scotland for Marksmen since 1 Jan 2020
To: FOI <[email protected]>

Please provide information on licences to kill seals issued by Police Scotland - including the names of 'nominated marksmen' - since 1 January 2020.
 
Please include copies of any firearms certificates, licences and any other official documents pertaining to the legal discharge of guns by marksmen to kill seals. 
 
Please include information on cases involving the illegal use of firearms by marksmen, salmon farmers or any other parties in relation to the killing of seals on salmon farms. 
 
As context, information disclosed by the Scottish Government on 1 February 2021 via FOI-202000118346 redacted the names of 'nominated marksmen' which were "issued by Police Scotland" for dozens of licences to kill seals. 
 
These included three nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Scottish Sea Farms:
 
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Nine nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Cooke Aquaculture:
 
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Four nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Mowi:
 
image.png
 
 
 
Six nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for The Scottish Salmon Company:
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
Three nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Loch Duart:
 
image.png
 
 
Eight nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Mowi (in relation to other sites);
 
image.png
 
 
 
Five nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland to Kames:
 
image.png
 
 
 
Six nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Scottish Sea Farms (other sites named):
 
image.png
 
 
 
Another licence for the North West Salmon Management Group (which includes salmon farms operated by Wester Ross and Loch Duart) is so redacted it is difficult to say if Police Scotland issued the nominated marksmen licences or how many marksmen are listed but it could be 10:
 
image.png
 
 
Scottish Salmon Watch assumes that the nominated marksmen may be the same or contain repeat names on different licences but there may be over a dozen marksmen.  Please therefore provide their names and the documentation pertaining to their licence to kill seals on salmon farms in Scotland.  
 
Scottish Salmon Watch strongly belives that naming the marksmen is a public interest issue.  In fact, back in 2012 an article in The Scotsman newspaper featured a marksman who killed seals on behalf of salmon farms: https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/seal-killing-vital-part-preserving-scottish-salmon-1640353
 
 
 
The Scottish Government FOI disclosure (FOI-202000118346) on 1 February 2021 also cited a case involving a seal killed by Mowi in Loch Ewe which was outwith their licence (i.e. illegal) which Scottish Government officials stated was passed onto Police Scotland's Wildlife Crime Unit.
 
Here's the relevant emails:
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
image.png
 
 
 
Please therefore provide any information held by Police Scotland in relation to this case and any others involving seals killed by salmon farms since 1 January 2020. 
 
Please consider this a formal request for information under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
 
Please provide a receipt for this FOI request.
 
Please provide the information electronically.
 
Thanks,
 
 
Don Staniford
 
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
 
 
 
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, Feb 10, 2021 at 12:34 PM
Subject: Review request re. FOI-202000118346
To: <[email protected]>

Please consider this a formal request for a review of FOI-202000118346 replied to by the Scottish Government on 1 February 2021.
 
FOI-202000118346 redacted the names of 'nominated marksmen' which were "issued by Police Scotland" for dozens of licences to kill seals. 
 
These included three nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Scottish Sea Farms:
 
image.png
 
 
Nine nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Cooke Aquaculture:
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
Four nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Mowi:
 
image.png
 
 
 
Six nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for The Scottish Salmon Company:
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
 
Three nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Loch Duart:
 
image.png
 
 
 
Eight nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Mowi (in relation to other sites);
 
image.png
 
 
 
Five nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland to Kames:
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
Six nominated marksmen issued by Police Scotland for Scottish Sea Farms (other sites named):
 
image.png
 
 
 
 
Another licence for the North West Salmon Management Group (which includes salmon farms operated by Wester Ross and Loch Duart) is so redacted it is difficult to say if Police Scotland issued the nominated marksmen licences or how many marksmen are listed but it could be 10:
 
image.png
 
 
 
Scottish Salmon Watch assumes that the nominated marksmen may be the same or contain repeat names on different licences but there may be over a dozen marksmen.  Please therefore provide their names and remove the redaction.  
 
Scottish Salmon Watch strongly believes that naming the marksmen is a public interest issue.  In fact, back in 2012 an article in The Scotsman newspaper featured a marksman who killed seals on behalf of salmon farms: https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/seal-killing-vital-part-preserving-scottish-salmon-1640353 .
 
Since the killing of seals by salmon farms was made illegal on 31 January 2021 any arguments for confidentiality are also diminished. 
 
If the Scottish Government decides to uphold the redaction of the names of the nominated marksmen please at least indicate how many different marksmen  are listed in the Seal Licence documents disclosed. 
 
Please provide a receipt for this FOI review request.
 
Thanks,
 
Don Staniford
 
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
 
 
 
From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Thu, Feb 11, 2021 at 8:02 PM
Subject: FOI re. illegal killing of seals & breaches of Seal Licences by salmon farms since 1 January 2018
To: <[email protected]>

Please provide information on the illegal killing of seals and breaches of Seal Licences by salmon farmers since 1 January 2018. 
 
Please note that FOI-2020-00118346 replied to by the Scottish Government on 1 February 2021 disclosed some information but refused other information stating:
 
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image.png
 
 
This new FOI request requests the "Wildlife Crime intelligence held by the Scottish Government" since 1st January 2018 in relation to seals killed by salmon farms.  Scottish Salmon Watch has also filed a FOI request with Police Scotland. 
 
In particular, please include any information relating to seals killed by Grieg Seafood in Loch Dunvegan.  A Tweet on 8 February 2021 (replying to a Tweet on 18 January 2021) included a photo of a harbour seal with a bullet wound to the head on the shore of Loch Dunvegan:
 
image.png



Please also provide the report to Police Scotland's Wildlife Crime Unit cited in the following email disclosed via FOI-2020-00118346 on 1 February 2021:
 
image.png

 
 
Scottish Salmon Watch believes this report - and any other correspondence not already disclosed - should have been disclosed via FOI-2020-00118346.
 
 
FOI-2020-00118346 also included a letter sent by Marine Scotland to Scottish Sea Farms in Shetland dated 14 January 2021 - including:
 
image.png
 
 
 
It appears that there may be missing documentation pertaining to this case - either refused or omitted via FOI-2020-00118346.
 
In any case, this FOI requests information on this case (and any others) up to today's date and may therefore include a reply from Scottish Sea Farms.
 
Please also include information on "seal licence misdemeanours" even if they were not actioned and resulted only in a verbal warning.  Note that the Scottish Government's FOI disclosure on 1 February 2021 (FOI-2020-00118346) included:
 
 
image.png
image.png
 
 
 
Finally, please also include any reaction and reference to the reward offered by Animal Concern - as reported by The Ferret earlier this month via: £5,000 reward offered for information on illegal shooting of seals
 
 
In conclusion, please provide information on the illegal killing of seals and breaches of Seal Licences by salmon farmers since 1 January 2018.
 
If the Scottish Government refuses to provide specific information, please provide generic data on the number of cases reported to Police Scotland's Wildlife Crime Unit and the number of seal licence breaches and "misdemeanours" by salmon farming companies.   
 
Please consider this a FOI request under the relevant FOI and Environmental Information regulations.
 
Please provide a receipt.
 
Please provide the information electronically.  
 
Thanks,
 
Don Staniford
 
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
 
 
 
 

From: Webb K (Kate)
Sent: 12 February 2021 15:41
To: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Cc: Central Enquiry Unit <[email protected]>; LOT Business and Operational Delivery ([email protected]) <[email protected]>
Subject: 202000118346 - Holding email to requestor re Query re. 2019 seal killing data from requestor - Q4 data missing - 12 February 2021

Dear Mr Staniford,

Thank you for your email below.

I forwarded your query below, made on the 6 February 2021, to a colleague who has prepared the update you have requested below. The Q4 missing data was provided to the website team yesterday for publication on our website.

I have just checked now and I can see the web link has not yet been updated, but I will check again early next week and advise you as soon as it has been.

Kind regards,

Kate Webb

Business Casework Officer – Business and Operational Delivery

Licensing Operations Team - Marine Planning & Policy - Marine Scotland - Scottish Government

Address: Marine Laboratory - 375 Victoria Road - Aberdeen - AB11 9DB 

Direct Line: Temporarily n/a - General Queries: Temporarily n/a 

Email: [email protected] - [email protected]

Web: https://www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-licensing/

 

 

 

 

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Feb 15, 2021 at 4:23 PM
Subject: 202000118346 - Marine licensing: seal licence returns Q4 2019 data now available online - 15 February 2021
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>



Dear Mr Staniford,

 

This email is to confirm that the seal licence missing return data for Q4 2019 has now been published on our website and is now available at the following web link: Marine licensing: seal licence returns 2011-2019 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

I would like to apologise for any inconvenience.

Kind regards,

Kate Webb

Business Casework Officer – Business and Operational Delivery

Licensing Operations Team - Marine Planning & Policy - Marine Scotland - Scottish Government

Address: Marine Laboratory - 375 Victoria Road - Aberdeen - AB11 9DB 

Direct Line: Temporarily n/a - General Queries: Temporarily n/a 

Email: [email protected] - [email protected]

Web: https://www.gov.scot/policies/marine-and-fisheries-licensing/

Posted at 07:22 AM |

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