Grey and common seals face a range of welfare threats in UK waters including entanglement, shooting, pollution, and disease, alongside growing populations that create management tensions.
Seal welfare in UK waters is shaped by a complex mixture of legal protection, licensed killing, and environmental threats. The shooting of seals under licence near Scottish fish farms is the most controversial welfare issue: tens to hundreds of seals are killed annually to protect commercial salmon operations, despite acoustic deterrents and other non-lethal options being available. This represents a direct, deliberate welfare harm that is commercially motivated. Beyond licensed shooting, seal entanglement in marine debris, fishing gear, and plastic waste causes significant welfare harm through injury, drowning, and slow death from internal damage. Rehabilitation of injured seals by British Divers Marine Life Rescue and SSPCA demonstrates both that seal welfare matters and that human intervention can make a meaningful difference.