Russian Fishery Company representatives took part in the return of seals to their habitat

Four seals that have undergone rehabilitation at the “Seal” Center have been returned to their natural habitat. Representatives of the Russian Fishery Company, with the support of which the construction of a new complex of the “Seal” Center is currently underway, helped the specialists of the rehabilitation center to release the seals.

 “For me, this is a new and very exciting experience,” shared the RFC CEO Fedor Kirsanov. - The opportunity to be directly involved in helping marine animals for the RFC, as for a company engaged in fishing at sea, is a special mission. The company is aimed not only at efficient, but also at safe, including for marine mammals, fishing. We are ready for additional efforts aimed at the conservation of marine biodiversity. We see that the Center’s specialists work brings its results, and we hope that with the support of the RFC the Center will become even more effective.”

“The seals arrived to us from different districts of Primorye,” commented Laura Beloivan, head of the “Seal” Center. “None of them could survive without our help. Today's event is a clear confirmation that the region needs a rehabilitation center for marine mammals. And the fact that the Russian Fishery Company helps us to reach a new level of assistance to the affected animals is difficult to overestimate. ”

Currently, the construction of new center facilities is being completed with financial support from the RFC. Next season it will accept animals for rehabilitation.

The new complex provides infrastructure for both seals (feed and storage facilities, quarantine premises, pools with adjoining equipped territory), and for employees of the center (volunteer house with the lecture hall).

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The Rehabilitation Center “Seal” is the first Russian rehab specializing in working with marine mammals. Since 2007, Seal experts have been successfully implementing the world standard program for the rehabilitation and reintroduction of the pinnipeds. It exists solely at the expense of the personal funds of the founders and voluntary donations. The leaders of the center are certified seal-handlers, specialists in seals rehabilitation and returning them to their natural habitat, trained in similar centers in Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA. In 2019, volunteers of the Center were trained on Sakhalin, where they learned how to provide assistance to marine animals affected by nets.