An animal rights campaigner has vowed his volunteers will not back down in their fight to protect seals around Scotland’s coast.
Members of controversial conservation group Sea Shepherd UK claim they confronted three men – believed to be employees of the Scottish Wild Salmon Company (SWSC) – heading out to shoot the marine creatures at Crovie the weekend.
It follows clashes between campaigners and the firm in the tiny fishing village of Gardenstown last year.
The group accused the family-run salmon fishery of shooting and killing a seal before its members started patrolling Gamrie Bay.
Sea Shepherd UK’s operations boss Robert Read – who is currently coordinating 67 international volunteers at sites across Scotland – said volunteers would be scrutinising the company’s activity’s closely this summer.
“I’ve used the entire winter to plan this campaign and I’ve booked all the accommodation I need until the end of the wild salmon netting season from Thurso to here and on Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides,” he said.
“We’ve had teams working undercover gathering intelligence and watching over the fish farms.”
Sea Shepherd is offering a £7,500 bounty for any evidence which leads to the prosecution of an individual or company for killing seals illegally around the coast of the UK.
The Scottish Wild Salmon Company (SWSC) did not respond to requests for a comment last night.
However, Aberdeenshire councillor Mark Findlater, whose Troup ward includes Crovie and the surrounding area, said: “I think it’s horrible that they have to shoot the seals – it really is – but I’ll leave it to the relevant experts to sort out.
“They have a licence to shoot but they have to be monitored. If I was a holiday maker down there I would not like someone firing a rifle nearby.”
He added: “It’s a really delicate situation. I don’t like the seals getting shot, but I’m not a fisherman.”