In 2020 more than 500,000 Scottish farmed salmon were killed in seal predation attacks. Farmers have a moral and legal responsibility to protect their fish, and are no longer able to shoot seals as a last resort in the protection of their livestock, following a change in the law introduced at the end of January. ADDs are used by many salmon producers as part of the toolkit for managing predation by seals, in conjunction with other deterrent technologies and innovations including anti-predation netting, seal blinds and new net tensioning methods.

The SSPO’s new decision means that the only circumstances in which Scottish salmon producers will use ADDs in future is where the devices comply with both Marine Scotland and US Marine Mammals Protection Act requirements and operators have been provided with evidence from suppliers of the devices’ compliance.