Grey seals are legally culled under licence in Scotland to protect salmon fisheries, creating welfare and conservation controversy around one of the UK's most successful mammal recoveries.
Seal shooting at close range by trained marksmen can cause rapid death, but long-range shooting of seals in water creates significant wounding risk as shot animals may dive and die unseen. Non-lethal deterrents including acoustic deterrents, exclusion netting and anti-predator cages protect salmon without welfare cost to seals. The welfare burden of culling is magnified by the fact that seals play a legitimate ecological role as apex marine predators.