Guga Hunt: Islanders 'vilified' and 'portrayed as backwards' by campaigners
Western Isles MSP Donald Mackinnon says his constituents have been ‘deeply distressed’ by the campaign against the Guga Hunt.
Islanders have been vilified and portrayed as backwards by the campaign to ban the controversial Guga Hunt, a Holyrood committee has been told.
Western Isles MSP Donald Mackinnon says his constituents in Ness have been “deeply distressed” and “othered” by anti-Guga Hunt campaigners.
The Guga Hunt is an annual 500-year-old tradition which sees The Men of Ness, a group of ten residents from the village on the Isle of Lewis, harvest up to 2,000 young gannets from Sula Sgeir, an island 40 miles north of Lewis.
There are around 10,000 breeding pairs on Sula Sgeir.
Over 112,000 people have signed a Holyrood petition to get the Scottish Government to amend the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to stop licences being granted to cull the gannets on the uninhabited island.
The annual hunt returned last year after a three-year hiatus due to bird flu, but NatureScot refused to grant a licence for 2026 over concerns about the impact it could have on the gannet population.
Mr Mackinnon told Holyrood’s petitions committee to reject the petition to ban the hunt, saying the practice has a “deep cultural significance” to the people of Ness.
He said: “In Ness and Lewis, for hundreds of years men have made the journey north to Sula Sgeir to harvest Guga, passing skills and knowledge down through the generations.
“The harvested birds are handed out through the community and enjoyed as family meals.
“From harvesting to eating the birds, Guga has a deep cultural significance to the people of Ness.”
He added “NatureScot considered animal welfare and heard that the chief vet considered the method of dispatch to be humane. The Scottish Government has indicated they do not intend to amend the act.
“I understand the petitioner has sincere concerns, however I cannot ignore the wider campaign which has sought to vilify the community of Ness, othering them and portraying them and the people of the islands as backwards.
“This has been deeply distressing for many of my constituents.”
Mr Mackinnon said that if the petition was to be kept open, members of the petitions committee should visit Ness to hear directly from locals on this issue.
However, the committee’s MSPs said the petition should remain open because of the “significant level of public interest”.
David Torrance, SNP MSP for Kirkcaldy, said: “Due to the public interest across Scotland, we should keep the petition open and take further evidence from NatureScot.
“I know there’s a huge public interest across Scotland, not just in the islands, to do with Guga.”
Convener Paul Sweeney, who is also a Labour MSP for Glasgow, added: “There is a significant level of public interest.
“In the first instance we should keep the petition open and get further representations from NatureScot and the local community before taking a final view on its long-term future.”
Kirsty Jenkins, director of policy at OneKind said: “The hunt is inhumane, with the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission recently confirming that they are ‘unaware of a humane way to dispatch guga’.
“But it’s not just the young gannets themselves that suffer - human presence in the colony causes widespread stress and disruption to other seabirds nesting nearby. Chicks may starve to death as disturbance caused by the hunt prevents adult birds from returning to their nests to feed their young.
“We look forward to providing further evidence and making the case for lasting legislative change to put an end to this cruel hunt once and for all.”
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