Velvet scoters winter offshore in UK coastal waters, with their welfare shaped by mussel and clam availability and fishing gear entanglement.
Velvet scoters entangled in fishing gear drown or are strangled by ropes. Their deep-diving foraging behaviour makes them particularly vulnerable to submerged gear. Population declines require investigation of the relative contributions of bycatch, prey changes, and breeding ground threats to identify the primary welfare and conservation interventions.