Grey and common seals in UK waters face welfare pressures from fishing interactions, marine debris entanglement, and periodic calls for population management culling. Evidence-based approaches can improve welfare outcomes.
Seal welfare sits at the center of human-wildlife conflicts over marine resources. Individual seals entangled in lost fishing gear face slow, painful deaths from strangulation and restriction; those shot illegally by fishermen protecting their catch suffer acute trauma. The recurring calls for culls represent a welfare threat to population-level proportions. The evidence suggests that humane deterrence, fishing gear modifications, and compensation for fish losses are more effective and less welfare-harmful approaches to human-seal conflict than lethal control. BDMLR and similar organizations demonstrate that direct welfare intervention - disentangling individual seals - is achievable and impactful at the individual level.