NatureScot experts recommend refusal of 2026 Guga Hunt licence
The annual taking of young Gannets on Sula Sgeir may not go ahead after officials said scientific uncertainty prevents them ruling out harm to the protected colony.
NatureScot's licensing and marine ornithology experts have recommended that permission for the 2026 Guga Hunt on Sula Sgeir should be refused.
The recommendation was published on Wednesday 29 July in papers prepared for an exceptional meeting of the NatureScot Board on Monday 3 August. The Board will make the final decision, meaning the hunt has not yet formally been stopped.
The Men of Ness applied in May for permission to take up to 2,000 young Northern Gannets, locally known as guga, from the remote island around 40 miles north of Lewis. NatureScot also assessed whether a reduced limit of 500 birds could be licensed, matching the maximum allowed in 2025.
Officials concluded that neither option could be recommended under the Habitats Regulations. Sula Sgeir forms part of the North Rona and Sula Sgeir Special Protection Area, and NatureScot can only authorise the activity when no reasonable scientific doubt remains that it will not adversely affect the integrity of the protected site.
The new assessment used updated population modelling designed to account for the effects of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, together with cumulative pressures including seabird bycatch and offshore wind development. It considered what repeated annual harvests could mean for the Gannet population over 25 years.
NatureScot found that taking 2,000 birds could not be shown to avoid an adverse effect on the site. Although one measure suggested a 500-bird harvest might leave the breeding population stable or increasing against the site's reference population, officials said the margins were slim and important uncertainties remained, particularly over recovery from bird flu.
On the basis and rationale summarised above, the recommended option is to refuse the licence application this year.
NatureScot licensing and marine ornithology teams
The most recent validated aerial survey, carried out in 2024, recorded 10,200 apparently occupied Gannet sites on Sula Sgeir. That compared with 12,271 in 2017 and a reference population of 10,400 used for the Special Protection Area. A further survey was completed on 11 July 2026, but preliminary results are not expected until the autumn.
The Guga Hunt did not take place in 2022, 2023 or 2024 following the major bird flu outbreak. It resumed in 2025 under a licence allowing no more than 500 birds to be taken, of which 485 were killed.
Campaigners welcomed the latest recommendation while stressing that it applies only to this year's licence. Protect the Wild said its petition to NatureScot had passed 250,000 signatures on the same day the Board papers were published.
The science now clearly matches the public opinion that there's no place for this hunt in 2026.
Devon Docherty, Protect the Wild
Robbie Marsland, director of the League Against Cruel Sports Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the recommendation was welcome but did not amount to a permanent end to the hunt.
It's a stay of execution, not a reprieve.
Robbie Marsland, League Against Cruel Sports
OneKind chief executive Jason Rose said the development showed that evidence and constructive engagement could make progress for animals. He said "no animal should ever have to suffer in the name of human tradition" and called on the Scottish Government to remove the legal provision which allows future Guga Hunt licences to be considered.
The campaign has also drawn support from prominent public figures. Wildlife presenter Chris Packham has called the hunt "indefensible in a country that claims to value nature and animal welfare", while Scottish actor Brian Cox described it as "needless cruelty" in a campaign film.
Animal welfare concerns have intensified separately from the conservation assessment. The Scottish Animal Welfare Commission recently told ministers that it was unaware of a humane method of killing guga that would be feasible under conditions on Sula Sgeir. The birds are captured at their nests and killed before being processed and preserved for food.
Supporters argue that the harvest is a carefully regulated food-gathering tradition central to the culture of Ness, rather than a blood sport. Speaking shortly before the new recommendation was published, Ness resident Murdo MacRitchie defended the practice and rejected the portrayal of the hunters as cruel.
We're not monsters and the hunt isn't some sort of blood sport. Every bird caught is eaten. There is absolutely no food waste.
Murdo MacRitchie, Ness resident
Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar Torcuil Crichton has also described the harvest as an "essential part of the history, culture and identity of Ness", arguing that islanders have lived in harmony with their environment for centuries.
The legal exemption is contained in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which permits a licence to be granted for taking Gannets on Sula Sgeir for human consumption. The Scottish Government said it has no current plans to remove that provision and maintains that the existing system allows applications to be assessed against conservation and animal welfare criteria.
If the NatureScot Board follows its officials' recommendation on 3 August, no licence will be issued for the 2026 hunt. The papers make clear, however, that this would not prevent the Men of Ness from submitting another application in a future year.
30 Jul 2026
Get Breaking Birdnews First
Get all the latest breaking bird news as it happens,
download BirdAlertPRO
for a 30-day free trial. No payment details required and get exclusive first-time subscriber offers.
Share this story
