2018-06-28

CCB position on grey seals in the Baltic Sea

In line with Art. 14-16 of the  EU Habitats Directive , hunt on specific seal populations can be allowed, under strict conditions, provided that the conservation status of the population is monitored to ensure that it is maintained at a favourable conservation status. Based on this, grey seal hunt is only allowed in  Sweden  (600 animals),  Finland (1050),  Åland  (450), Estonia (37) and Denmark (only Bornholm, 40).

However within 2017-2018 several incidents of suspected deliberate illegal killing of grey seals were observed in  Lithuania  (26),  Germany  (23-27, Rugen),  Finland  (2, Hamina),  Poland  (>10, Eastern Pomerania) and Russia (3, Kaliningrad).

Read our full position here.