Seal Management in Scotland: Tourist Perceptions and the Possible Impacts on the Scottish Tourism Industry

Fisheries organisations in Scotland have repeatedly called for culls of common and grey seals, despite their conservation status and no supporting scientific evidence. This current study investigated the opinion of tourists in West Scotland as to whether seal populations should be reduced to manage their increasing numbers. The study also looks at whether such a cull would influence tourist behaviour. In total 735 interviews were conducted. There were regional differences in levels of opinion but, on average, 60% of respondents believed that seals should not be regulated and 17% stated that the instigation of a cull would affect their decision to visit Scotland on holiday. In the Highlands of Scotland alone this could represent over £100 million in lost tourism income. A boycott by tourists to the Highlands, as the result of introducing seal culls, could equate to a financial loss equivalent to a third of the total value of Scottish fisheries. Tourism is Scotland's main industry and is particularly important for the economy of rural areas. Any further proposals for seal culls should seriously consider the negative and indirect impacts these culls could have, such as reductions in tourist numbers and tourism income to a region.     

The Resumption of Whaling by Iceland and the Potential Negative Impact in the Icelandic Whale-watching Market

Whale-watching tourists were surveyed to determine their opinion on whether they would visit, to go whale-watching, in a country that conducted whale-watching operations: 79% of whale-watchers in the study area said they would boycott a country that conducted hunts for cetaceans, and a further 12.4% stated that although they would visit a country conducting whaling operations, they would not partake in a whale-watching trip in that country (i.e. 91.4% of whale-watchers would not go whale-watching in a country that hunted whales). The results of this study are of great significance to the whale-watching industry in Iceland (currently estimated to be directly worth over US$12 million per annum), a country whose government has stated its wish to resume commercial whaling in 2006, and 'scientific' whaling prior to this date.