25,000 back calls for NatureScot to end controversial guga hunt

More than 25,000 people have now signed a petition calling on NatureScot to stop licensing the controversial guga hunt. And pressure continues to mount on Scotland’s nature agency.

The guga hunt – killing young gannets

Each autumn, a group of men from the Isle of Lewis travel to the remote uninhabited island of Sula Sgeir to capture and kill flightless gannet chicks (“guga”) for food. The hunters use poles to dislodge the young birds from the cliffs and then batter them to death.

The activity is part of a historical tradition and takes place under authorisation from public body NatureScot. The agency decides whether to grant a licence each year there’s an application, subject to conservation tests.

Protect the Wild created the petition. It argues that NatureScot is failing to meet evidential thresholds when issuing these licences and should not continue authorising the guga hunt.

Mounting public pressure recently prompted NatureScot to issue a public statement. It acknowledged the “strong feelings” about the guga hunt and confirmed that its board is considering people’s concerns.

In its statement, NatureScot said:

We understand there are strong feelings about the guga hunt, and that some people will disagree with it taking place. The hunt is recognised in law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act…Our role is to make licensing decisions based on the most recent scientific evidence.

NatureScot confirmed that in 2025 it reduced the permitted take from 2,000 birds to 500 following survey data collected after avian flu outbreaks. And it said that it granted a licence on the condition that the hunters killed the birds “humanely”.

Insufficient monitoring

But Protect the Wild says the Sula Sgeir gannet colony remains in decline and that allowing even a reduced guga hunt risks further damage. It also questions how NatureScot can guarantee the killing is humane when it does not directly monitor the process.

Devon Docherty, Scottish Campaigns Manager at Protect the Wild said:

Sula Sgeir is now the only Special Protection Area for gannets in Scotland that has fallen below its official citation level.

NatureScot continues to grant licences knowing the gannet colony is vulnerable, the hunt harms other breeding seabirds, and that they cannot verify whether the chicks are killed humanely – they simply take the hunters’ word for it.

With tens of thousands of people now calling for it to stop, the continued licensing of the guga hunt is becoming increasingly difficult for NatureScot to justify.

NatureScot has stated that if a new licence application is received for 2026, it will be brought before its Board for decision.

Protect the Wild says it will continue urging NatureScot to reject future licence applications. And it’s calling on the Scottish government to remove the legal exemption that allows the guga hunt to take place.

Featured image via John Ranson / the Canary