Seals interact with fisheries globally, facing threats from bycatch entanglement, illegal shooting, and conflict with fishing operations that reduces tolerance for their presence.
Seals face significant welfare threats from fisheries interactions. Entanglement in set gear including creels, gillnets, and trawl wires causes drowning in air-breathing mammals. Even brief entanglement causes panic and injury. Shooting of seals around salmon rivers and fish farms is permitted under license in the UK but causes significant animal welfare problems when wounding rather than killing occurs. Underwater firearms use can result in wounded animals that sink and are not recovered. Non-lethal alternatives including acoustic deterrents and stronger net materials are available and effective but require investment. Acoustic deterrents may affect cetaceans acoustically. Demand for more sustainable aquaculture practices is driving development of better seal exclusion systems.