The government's minister responsible, Peter Kullgren (KD), has stated the goal of halving the seal population "as soon as possible," and the hunting decisions are described by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency as "well-balanced" to prevent damage that seals can cause to fishing gear, catches and fish stocks.
According to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, however, it is wrong to blame seals for the historically low fish stocks in the Baltic Sea, which is believed to be a result of overfishing, eutrophication and environmental toxins.
Historically, we had seal populations that were much larger than they are today, and back then we also had large stocks of herring. It is not the seals that are the problem, says Ida Carlén, head of the unit for sea, water and cultivated landscapes at the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.
Seals can have a local impact on fishing in, for example, shallow coastal bays, but then the hunt needs to be localized to that area and it does not need to be very large.
More conflicts
When fish are scarce, seals come to the coast and take fish from the nets because they cannot find enough food farther out at sea.
Seal hunting often takes place farther out in the archipelago, in areas where the seals are easy to catch and not in the vulnerable areas. This can even cause the seals to move from the areas where they are hunted closer to the coast, where there will be even more conflicts with fishing, says Ida Carlén.
According to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, there is no scientific evidence that seal hunting would cause fish stocks to recover. However, studies show that increased hunting could put seal populations at risk in the long term.
We do not believe you can hunt to reduce the population before you know what effect it will have on the fish stocks, says Ida Carlén.
Difficult hunting
The Swedish Society for Nature Conservation also raises concerns about the risk of shooting at targets during seal hunting, which is described as a difficult hunt.
It is usually done from a boat that is never completely still against a moving target in the water. You shoot when the seal sticks its head out of the water and it is a very small target to aim at. Grey seals sink quite quickly when shot and only a small percentage are recovered, which means you don't know if the seal is dead or injured by a gunshot, says Ida Carlén.
