TALLINN 's The EU announced that all of Estonia's seal breeding grounds would be taken under protection, as stipulated by the EU's natural habitats directive and the Estonian Nature Protection Act, the daily Eesti Paevaleht reported.
Under the Nature Protection Act, at least half of the country's registered breeding and molting grounds must be protected. "The aim of taking these areas under protection is to ensure peace from disturbance by humans to grey seals during the breeding period and to ringed seals during the molting period," Riinu Rannap from the Environment Ministry's nature protection department told the paper.
These protection plans, however, have caused opposition among fishermen, as seals tend to break their nets and traps.
