Mitigating a social conflict between seal, conservation and fisheries in the Baltic Sea: multilevel and synergistic approaches

The conflict between seal conservation and fisheries in the Baltic Sea has becomeremarkably serious and threatens the existence of coastal fishing activities in theBaltic Sea. Seals cause significant catch losses, gear damage and various types ofhidden damages and losses. In particular, reports of damage caused by the grey seal,the largest and most common seal species in the Baltic Sea, have increaseddrastically with the growth of the seal population. Even though a wide range oftechnical mitigation measures have been developed, the seal-fishery conflict has notbeen adequately resolved. Technical means alone do not provide an adequatesolution for the growing grey seal population and involve considerable costs andadditional work to fishers. Successful management of the conflict requires a widerange of locally tailored management tools and the political will to implement them.In the Regional solutions for mitigating seal-fishery conflict in the Baltic Sea -Interdisciplinary synthesis (RESOCO) project, funded by the Fisheries Co-operationof the Nordic Council of Ministers, the usefulness of existing and emerging sealconflict mitigation and management tools was compiled. Tools were classified intofour groups: technological solutions, population management, economic measures,and institutional instruments. The outcome of the synthesis "Mitigating a socialconflict between seal, conservation and fisheries in the Baltic Sea: multilevel andsynergistic approaches" is based on a wide range of material, including reports fromvarious projects, scientific publications, and interviews with key stakeholders. Thesynthesis also includes examples of real-life cases in the mitigation of seal-fisheryconflict from Finland, Åland Islands, Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia.The key message is that mitigation of seal-fishery conflict requires not only a broadknowledge base but also better understanding between key stakeholders,particularly between the coastal fisheries sector and conservation organizations.Furthermore, reconciliation between conflicting parties requires a wide range ofgovernance actions and the political will to implement them. At the heart of thisreconciliation is the acceptability and legitimacy of different means and solutions forconflict mitigation.The synthesis assesses the interconnections of tools and means and identifiespossible combinations of these tools to effectively move forward. To support thenecessary decisions, not only insight into the scale and significance of the problemsbut also information on alternative governance arrangements and their applicabilityin different situations is needed.International agreements play an important role in the management of and affectnational room for manoeuvring in the mitigation of the conflict. At the national level,coordination between the use of fishing grounds and the protection of seals requirescross-sectoral agreement on objectives, means and implementation. When bothresource and environmental sectors have a clear understanding and guidelines, it iseasier to agree on the use of appropriate combinations of measures andresponsibilities. National seal management plans can support both national andregional planning and participatory decision-making on the application of different5
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management measures in practice. However, progress requires solutions andmeasures in the wider Baltic Sea setting. International coordination, co-operation,and the exchange of best practices between the Baltic Sea countries areprerequisites to success in mitigating the conflic