DATELINE: 14th December 2000

SEAL CULL CALL
Doe-eyed and popular dive companions they might be, but seals are the villains of the piece as far as fishermen are concerned. David Sheil, Chairman of the Anglo-Scottish Fishermen's Federation, has called for a cull, saying that a population explosion of grey seals in British waters has led to a deterioration in stocks of cod.
Seals, now calculated at some 10,000 in number, are said to be consuming an estimated 15,000 tonnes of cod a year - nearly half the annual EU catch quota for UK fishermen.
The problem is said to be most acute around Scotland, home to some 90 per cent of Britain's seals. Interviewed by the Guardian, David Sheil said: "Fishing communities are dying. They are going to have to do something because the seals are getting out of hand. They are going to have to control them."
There have been previous culls of seals, which generated much opposition and were discontinued in 1978. Further culls would be likely to create resistance once again.
John Watkins, a scientist linked with the National Trust's monitoring of seal populations, has claimed that seal numbers appear to have levelled out - and that other predators affect fish stocks more.
"The biggest threat to fish is fish, next are seabirds, then it's man and then, way down the list, come seals and whales," he says.

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