Ending the guga hunt should not mean abandoning the people whose identity is bound up in it

I’ve spent 47 years working for social change, much of it relating to animal welfare. I was responsible for work that led to the banning of fox hunting in England and Wales, the end of the commercial seal hunt in Canada and an agreement to stop the commercial killing of minke whales in Iceland. The most important thing I’ve learned is that change doesn’t happen if you force someone into a corner, wag your finger under their nose and tell them they’re bad.

Which brings me to Sula Sgeir, and news that an application has been made by the Men of Ness for a license to kill juvenile gannets, known as guga. I’ve watched the campaign to end the guga hunt with increasing concern as a well-intentioned petition, now carrying more than 100,000 signatures and under consideration by the Scottish Parliament, has become overshadowed by a high-profile, stunt-driven publicity campaign.

I have seen this pattern before. The anti-whaling campaign in Iceland was set back twenty years when a whaling boat was scuttled in Reykjavik harbour. For decades, pitched battles between fox hunters and protestors made hunting a public disorder issue rather than the animal welfare issue it is. Rather than changing minds, aggressive and combative campaigning tends to entrench positions, so it’s no wonder attitudes on Lewis are hardening.

Of course, I’m not against campaigning for change. As Director of the League Against Cruel Sports for more than ten years, I’m proud to have played a part in many successful campaigns, but animal welfare is an emotive issue, and that’s why campaigns work best when done with respect for those who hold opposing points of view.

The League was one hundred years old last year, and for a century it has questioned activities that harm animals as part of traditions. The guga hunt is not like fox hunting or grouse shooting because it’s not done for entertainment, and that context matters when thinking about how change, if it comes, should happen.

Today, the League Against Cruel Sports and OneKind jointly publish a report on the animal welfare implications of the guga hunt, and we are backing the petition to end the hunt.

We all know that eating meat means animals are killed, but if that must happen we expect those animals to be treated with respect and killed quickly to minimise distress to them and to other animals around them.

In its licencing, NatureScot stipulates that birds must be killed humanely. Our report finds that the guga hunt cannot be considered humane, that the method of killing carries welfare risks that cannot be adequately monitored or verified, and that the disturbance caused to other vulnerable seabird species, including the highly protected Leach’s storm petrel, has been consistently underestimated.

Recently the Scottish Seabird Centre published a report recommending that “licensing of the guga hunt be permanently ended”. Their report raised serious conservation concerns noting that the gannet population on Sula Sgeir has declined by around 17 per cent since 2017, and the island is currently the only gannet Special Protection Area in Scotland where the population has fallen below the level at which the site was originally designated for protection.

Last year, NatureScot responded to population concerns by reducing the licensed take of the hunt from 2,000 birds to 500, based on data they had at the time. But the Seabird Centre’s report concludes that even this reduced level of harvesting suppresses population recovery, and that the cumulative pressures on seabirds, such as avian flu, climate change, and wider environmental decline, mean that a precautionary approach is now the only responsible course.

As NatureScot considers whether to grant a license for this year’s guga hunt, the weight of evidence is now pointing only in one direction. I have spent the last six months exploring how to encourage dialogue about the wisdom, or otherwise, of this hunt. I’ve spoken with people in the local community, their political representatives and those whose family traditions are deeply intertwined with the hunt, as well as many people on Lewis who privately oppose it but feel unable to say so.

There is much to respect in the hunters; a deep sense of camaraderie, the maintenance of ancient structures, a hard-won body of skill and knowledge, giving those involved real pride and a sense of belonging. So, as the Scottish Parliament prepares to consider a petition against the guga hunt that has attracted global attention, it is important to recognise the cultural importance of this tradition to the Ness community.

Ending the hunt should not mean abandoning the people whose identity is bound up in it. The Scottish Government could work in partnership with Ness, fund initiatives that preserve and celebrate the community’s extraordinary cultural heritage and explore ways in which local people can be actively involved in seabird conservation and monitoring on Sula Sgeir. My organisation would be happy to finance some of this work.

Scotland has a remarkable opportunity to demonstrate that it takes both its cultural responsibilities and its environmental ones seriously. The culture of Ness is not on trial, but the welfare of the birds matters too, and the two things are not as irreconcilable as the noise of recent months might suggest.

Robbie Marsland Director, League Against Cruel Sports Scotland and Northern Ireland