The guga hunt could return next year after first minister John Swinney confirmed that the Scottish government has “no intention” of changing the law. This is despite a record-breaking petition calling for the controversial hunt to be outlawed.
Wildlife campaign group Protect the Wild has published a letter to the first minister accusing him of sidelining serious conservation and animal welfare concerns surrounding the guga hunt, as well as the views of more than 115,000 people who have signed a Scottish Parliament petition calling for it to be banned.
Although the hunting of gannets on Sula Sgeir was once a means of subsistence, today it continues as a tradition, with the birds consumed as a local delicacy on the Isle of Lewis. Gannets are otherwise protected from killing, but a specific provision in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 allows NatureScot to issue licences for gannets to be taken from Sula Sgeir for human consumption.
This year, NatureScot denied permission to the guga hunt, following a major public campaign against it led by groups including Protect the Wild.
NatureScot said its decision was based on the latest scientific evidence, which found that allowing the hunt to continue could further jeopardise the recovery of the gannet population, which has suffered significant declines in recent years. An estimated 23–41% of the Sula Sgeir gannet population died during recent avian flu outbreaks.
The guga hunt could return as early as next year
During First Minister’s Questions this week, Swinney was asked about the future of the guga hunt by Western Isles MSP Donald MacKinnon, who has publicly argued for it to continue.
The first minister confirmed that his government has “no intention” of changing the relevant provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. And he stressed that NatureScot’s refusal of the 2026 licence does not prevent the hunters from submitting another application in future.
That means the guga hunt could return as early as next year.
Protect the Wild has accused the first minister of ignoring serious welfare and environmental concerns surrounding the hunt, while going out of his way to reassure those who want it to continue.
In its letter, Protect the Wild argues that keeping the guga hunt legal directly undermines the Scottish government’s commitments to halt biodiversity loss and restore Scotland’s seabird populations, while ignoring animal welfare concerns raised by bodies including the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and the SSPCA.
The group has asked Swinney to rethink his position and meet with campaigners to hear from them directly.
More than 115,000 people have now signed wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby’s Scottish Parliament petition calling for the law allowing the guga hunt to be removed, making it one of the most heavily supported petitions ever considered by Holyrood.
The parliament’s Public Petitions Committee recently decided to keep the petition open and seek further evidence.
Devon Docherty, Scottish campaigns manager at Protect the Wild, said:
John Swinney’s government has published an entire action plan dedicated to saving Scotland’s struggling seabirds. Yet when given the chance to remove a completely avoidable threat to gannets, they refuse.
I’m struggling to understand how allowing native, Amber-listed seabirds to be bludgeoned to death for a delicacy is remotely compatible with this government’s repeated promises to halt biodiversity loss.
Keeping the guga hunt legal makes a mockery of everything this government claims to stand for. It’s time they stopped bending over backwards to reassure those who want to keep killing gannets, and started listening to the science, the welfare experts and the more than 115,000 people demanding an end to this cruel relic of the past.
Protect the Wild has requested a meeting with the first minister. And it’s encouraging people across Scotland to contact their MSPs and ask them to speak up in support of changing the law.
Featured image via John Ranson / the Canary
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