seal hunting

In an overfished sea, the seals have begun to move towards the coasts to look for food. Here they encroach on people’s territory. From being nearly extirpated in the early 1980s, to recovering, we are now licensed to hunt seals again.

In the Theme – Seal hunting, we have collected reports from the seal count at Koster, interviews with decision makers and researchers and also a series of facts about the three different seal tribes we have along the Swedish coast.

I am now forbidden to fish for cod and the pike has disappeared from my bay. I'm looking for scapegoats. Who is responsible for the...
Chronicler: Peter Löfgren
Foto: Johan Candert, Simon Stanford
It is early morning sometime late winter last year. Out on the islands in the Skarv archipelago in the sea belt outside Stockholm, female seals...
reportage/redigering: Kajsa Grandell
Ringed seal pups become homeless as the Baltic Sea's ice shrinks. Now it is being tested to build caves out of plastic and plywood to...
Text: Hanna Odelfors/TT
Photo: Danny Gren, Yrkeshögskolan i Åbo, Johanna Hanno
Graphics: Anna-Lena Lindqvist/TT
We asked Tero Härkönen, who has researched seals since the 1970s, three questions. Is it the seal's fault that the fish disappear? Is the seal...
reportage: Lena Scherman
Redigering/foto: Alexandre Gobatti
Seal populations rebound after hunting ban and environmental efforts, sparking debate between conservation needs and the impact on fishing. Dive into the story....
Reportage: Lena Scherman
Editing: Alexandre Gobatti
Photo: Kimmo Hagman, Johan Candert, Leif Eiransson, Simon Stanford, Anders Kronborg, Lunds Universitet
Since almost four years ago, we have license hunting on gray seals, since two years on harbor seals and protection hunts on ringed seals since...
Reportage: Lena Scherman
Foto: Hans Berggren, Johan Candert/DSR, Alexandre Gobatti/DSR, Kimmo Hagman/DSR,Göran Ehlmé/DSR, Simon Stanford/DSR, Tobias Dahlin/DSR, Ismaele Tortella
Redigering: Alexandre Gobatti
Researchers have now established that the harbor seals in the Kosterhavet area are becoming increasingly scarce. Last year, only half of the females gave birth...
Text: Lina Mattsson
Photo: Daire Carroll/Göteborgs Universitet, Alexandre Gobatti/DSR
We accompanied seal researchers from the University of Gothenburg, to Koster. In the archipelago on the Swedish west coast. Koster is one of the places...
Reportage: Lena Scherman
Photo/Editing: Alexandre Ramos Gobatti
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency decided this year that we should shoot 630 harbor seals, 1500 gray seals and 350 ringed seals. Some think that...
Reportage: Lena Scherman/Alexandre Gobatti
Explore the dramatic journey of the Baltic Sea's seals from near extinction to recovery and the debates surrounding their resurgence....
Text: Lena Scherman
Photo: Johan Candert
Sweden, Finland, and Norway conduct hunting for seals as trophy hunting. In most other countries, hunting of large marine mammals has been prohibited. In the...
Reportage: Daniel Hager/Lena Scherman/Alexandre Gobatti
The fish are running out, the herring and the baltic herring are threatened and the cod is almost completely gone. When there is a competition...
Reportage: Daniel Hager/Lena Scherman/Alexandre Gobatti
When the seal population had collapsed around 1980 and was almost completely extinct, the authorities put an end to all hunting. Seal protection areas were...
Reporter: Lena Scherman
Editing: Alexandre Gobatti/Daniel Hager
Graphics: Daniel Hager
For the second year in a row, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has decided on licensed hunting for grey seals and harbor seals. During this...
Text: Tina Remius Strömberg/TT/Nyhetsbyrån
Photo: Claus Gertsen/TT Arkivbild
For the first time this year, both harbor seals and grey seals will be hunted under licence. 730 harbor seals may be felled during two...
Text: TT
Photo: Johan Candert
The government makes it possible to introduce licence hunting for both grey seals and humpback seals. "This is about protecting fish stocks and coastal fishing,"...
Text: Tea Oscarsson/TT
Photo: Lars Pehrson/TT
A rift has emerged in the government between the Social Democrats and the Green Party. The Social Democrats have changed their footing on the issue...
Text: Owe Nilsson/Lars Larsson/TT
Photo: Magnus Martinsson/Naturfotograferna/BL Bildbyrå/TT
Scroll to Top