Seals

The seals of the Baltic Sea are still suffering from health problems linked to pollution, but populations are generally increasing - as are calls from fishermen and hunters for the reinstatement of seal culls.

Three seal species breed in the Baltic Sea area:

Grey seal
Common seal
Baltic ringed seal 

	...to take effective measures for all populations in order to prevent illegal killing, and to reduce incidental bycatches to a minimum level and if possible to a level close to zero (Recommendation 27-28/2)

	Monitoring of seals in the Baltic by BIOMAD, Database on Marine Biological Monitoring Data administered by the Department of System Ecology, Stockholm University.

Persecution in the past

Most people now welcome the presence of seals in the Baltic Marine area, even if they seldom see them, but until quite recently seals were widely persecuted. Many populations became endangered during the last century, and grey seals even disappeared completely from German and Polish coastal waters.

In the Baltic Proper, harbour seal and grey seal populations are affected by contaminants, habitat destruction and fishing, and are increasing more slowly than the grey seals of the Gulf of Bothnia or the harbour seals of the Kattegat.

Competing for fish

Fishermen are increasingly calling for seal culls to keep their competitors in check. Reduced salmon catches in the Gulf of Finland are regularly blamed on seals taking fish from nets or traps, at the same time causing expensive damage to fishing equipment. In the Kattegat and the southern Baltic, seals compete with fishermen for eel and cod, while in the Gulf of Bothnia and the Estonian archipelago, seals are thought to be affecting coastal salmon and whitefish fisheries. Current research is aiming to develop fishing tackle that can withstand the attention of seals, but meanwhile the calls for seal hunting to be reinstated grow louder.

Seal hunting may soon be resumed in places

At present seal hunting is still banned, but a special Seal Project Group set up in 1998 to co-ordinate the management and conservation of seal populations has proposed changes in the recommendations to permit the controlled hunting of seals in certain areas.

Health problems continue

	The populations of all three seal species in the Baltic are generally recovering thanks to reductions in the concentrations of organic contaminants in the marine environment. But reproductive problems are still widespread, with many female seals unable to produce pups due to a uterine condition induced by PCBs and dioxins.

Chronic intestinal ulcers also seem to be affecting an increasing number of young grey seals. During the period 1977-86 it was noticed that around 15% of young grey seals were suffering from severe intestinal ulcers, and since then this proportion has risen to over 50%. While these problems are probably caused by contaminants disrupting the seals' immune systems, the mechanisms involved remain unknown.

Seal populations are still way below their levels a century ago, and seal hunting has been banned since 1988 according to HELCOM recommendations. It is intended that the ban will only be lifted when the seals' health and levels of reproduction improve.