Grey seal populations have recovered strongly in UK waters, bringing management debates about their interactions with fisheries and the welfare implications of various control proposals.
Grey seal management raises welfare questions at both population and individual levels. Proposed large-scale culls would cause suffering at significant scale to animals whose population growth represents a conservation success. Individual welfare concerns include pup disturbance at breeding colonies and entanglement in fishing gear. The evidence that seal predation is a primary driver of fish stock decline is contested by fisheries scientists, suggesting the welfare cost of culling may not be justified by the claimed fisheries benefit.