Seals and sea lions face welfare threats from entanglement, fisheries conflict, marine pollution, and harassment — while their recovering populations create new management challenges in some regions.
Pinniped welfare involves individual animals experiencing very different welfare challenges — the pup abandoned on a haul-out when humans approach too closely, the sea lion with fishing line cutting through its neck, the sea lion seized with domoic acid-caused neurological damage on a California beach. Marine mammal rescue organizations respond to thousands of stranded pinnipeds annually, providing acute veterinary care and, where possible, successful release. The welfare of wild pinniped populations over the long term requires addressing the systemic causes of their welfare problems — entanglement, prey depletion, toxin exposure, and harassment — rather than managing the consequences of these threats.