Predators

A duty of care

Farmers have a duty under the provisions of The Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 to protect fish under their care from harm and unnecessary suffering.

Freshwater and marine fish farms may be exposed to a number of predatory animal species which can cause considerable losses and seriously compromise the welfare of fish. This can represent very significant costs to farmers, directly through the immediate loss of fish and consequentially through losses arising as a consequence of damage to fish, stress, disease and damage to nets. The most significant predator species are seals, otters, mink, herons, and cormorants, along with some other species of birds.

It is good practice to anticipate and prevent predation, and to adopt the correct management of predation problems when they occur. Effective predator control is site specific and subject to legislation.

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 sets out to balance the need to protect seals against unregulated destructive control with the need to protect farmed fish and fish farms against the often serious impacts of seal predation. The destruction of seals is now subject to a rigorous licensing system.  SSPO has worked closely with Scottish Government and stakeholders through the Seals Working Group and Seals Forum to help shape the provisions of the Act.