Site-specific seal cull figures revealed
The move was vehemently opposed by the salmon industry and Scottish government ministers, who feared that the information might be used against workers on these sites and their families, by extreme environmental activists.
However, the Information Commissioner did not accept that disclosing the information would represent a substantial threat to public safety and ordered its release last month.
According to the latest government figures there were 176 seals killed in the past two years - 95 in 2013 and 81 last year - but the numbers shot have declined steadily since 2011.
The newly-released figures reveal that, in the last two years, 58 seals have been shot at sites owned by Scottish Sea Farms, 38 at Hjaltland Sea Farms and 23 at sites run by the Scottish Salmon Company.
However, the number of seals shot at Hjaltland Sea Farms reduced drastically from 32 to six between 2013 and 2014.
In the past salmon farmers were allowed to kill any seals that were putting their farms in danger – a move which helped to protect their livelihoods and the welfare of their salmon, as well as avert the environmental issues caused by mass salmon escapes.
However, in the past two years farmers have had to apply for licences to cull problem seals, which has led to fewer of the animals being shot.
A spokesman for Grieg Seafood Shetland said the company lost £3m of salmon due to seal attacks in 2013 and 2014. He told BBC Scotland: "Seals attack our cages, killing and damaging salmon and tearing nets which may end in salmon escaping."
"Where we installed predator nets or the new net types, seal attacks and seal losses stopped," he added.
In a statement the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Association said: “A very small number of seals can be persistent killers, resulting in the slow and painful deaths of thousands of fish.
“Fortunately, the methods to deter seals are generally very effective. As a result, the number of occasions when a persistent seal has to be shot on a fish farm has fallen and continues to fall. In 2014, 80 seals were shot at fish farms from a population of around 148,000.”
Don Staniford, of the Global Alliance Against Industrial Aquaculture, who pursued the freedom of information requests, said: "The process of naming and shaming has forced the industry to reduce the killing of seals. People-power can eventually force a complete ceasefire and bring the figures down to zero."
