After 500 years, island bird harvest is banned by quango

By CLAIRE ELLIOT, SCOTTISH GENERAL NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:31, 3 August 2026 | Updated: 20:43, 3 August 2026 A centuries-old tradition of hunting gannet chicks for food has been banned for the first time. Campaigners hailed NatureScot’s decision not to allow the guga hunt on an uninhabited island to go ahead as a ‘victory for compassion’. The hunt normally takes place each autumn when a team of ten men from Ness, on the Isle of Lewis, travel 40 miles to Sula Sgeir to ‘harvest’ the juvenile birds for human consumption. It has been a part of their way of life since the mid-1400s but NatureScot board members yesterday formally rejected an application from the hunters, known as the Men of Ness, to cull up to 2,000 birds this year. The board agreed it should be scrapped to allow populations of the bird to continue to recover from an avian flu outbreak. It followed a recommendation from officials who said, based on scientific modelling, that even if a licence to cull a reduced number of birds was granted, they were ‘unable to conclude, beyond reasonable scientific doubt, this harvest level would not result in an adverse effect on site integrity’. Protesters outside of the Scottish Parliament opposed to the harvesting of gannet poults Devon Docherty of Protect the Wild said the move was a ‘victory for compassion, for conservation and for common sense’ and added: ‘Thousands of young seabirds have been spared from a brutal death.’  Robbie Marsland of the League Against the Cruelty of Animals said: ‘This cruel practice belongs in the past.’ But some islanders claimed the scientific modelling was ‘raising more questions than answers’ and was not based on ‘real, empirical scientific evidence’. Murdo MacRitchie of Ness questioned why allowing a reduced number of 500 birds to be culled was not supported. The Men of Ness said the expedition ‘is of immense cultural and historical importance... with strict traditions and practices that have been passed down’.  One board member, Jill Robbie, said the people of Lewis ‘have for centuries looked after important habitats through traditional practices’. Fellow member Ghazoul Jaboury also called for a ‘greater variety of modelling scenarios’. Western Isles Labour MSP Donald MacKinnon said the decision was ‘very disappointing’ and ‘comes after months of intense abuse directed at the community and individuals from protesters’. The Men of Ness have been culling gannets on the uninhabited island Sula Sgeir since the 1400s He added: ‘It was clear from the board discussion that there are questions around the population modelling used to arrive at the recommendation and the subsequent decision to reject the application. ‘NatureScot must now engage directly with the Men of Ness to find a way forward.' He added it was 'crucial' that the agency works 'to strike a balance between maintaining a sustainable population of gannets on Sula Sgeir and allowing guga to be harvested in the future’.  The decision does not prevent hunters applying for a licence in the future, NatureScot said.  A spokesman added: ‘Nature-Scot has a duty to consider any licence application based upon the best available science.’