Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Environment, signed an Order on Sunday 3 January, imposing a temporary ban on wildfowling in Scotland. The purpose of the ban is to reduce disturbance to wildfowl in the current severe weather. The ban follows procedure previously agreed for severe weather conditions. The ban comes into effect on Tuesday 5th January and will last for 14 days. It will be reviewed after 7 days and may be lifted then if conditions have sufficiently improved.
Text from the press release sent out by the Scottish Government is set out below. We have also included text from the Notice that will appear in newspapers next week. The Government have asked us to make members aware of the ban and that all forms of disturbance to wildfowl are to be avoided where possible.
WARNING
TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF THE SHOOTING OF BIRDS IN SCOTLAND
Due to the recent severe weather Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Environment, has made an Order prohibiting the shooting of birds in Scotland, both below the high water mark of ordinary spring tides and inland.
Species covered by the order, listed on Schedule 2 Part I of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, are:
Coot, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Goldeneye, Canada, Greylag and Pink-footed Geese, Mallard, Moorhen, Pintail, Golden Plover, Pochard, Shoveler, Common Snipe, Teal, Wigeon, Woodcock. Game birds are not affected but reared duck are included in the ban.
Shooting geese for crop protection during any statutory suspension period is also prohibited unless it is otherwise permitted by licence. Any such shooting should be conducted so as to minimise disturbance to other wildfowl.
The ban commences at 0.01 a.m. on Tuesday 5th January 2010 and ends at 11.59 p. m. on 18th January 2010. This ban is effective only in Scotland.
Anyone who does not comply with this Order is committing an offence
Reasons for a ban
The Wildlife and Countryside Act provides for Ministers to impose temporary bans on shooting outside closed seasons. Conservation agencies and shooting organisations have jointly agreed on the circumstances when a ban should be imposed. The Severe Weather ban protects wildfowl when they need to conserve energy to cope with a period of prolonged harsh weather conditions. Voluntary restraint is often applied after 7 days of freezing weather. A statutory ban is imposed after 15 days of freezing weather.
Other countryside users should also aim to avoid disturbing wildfowl in these conditions. For example walkers should try to keep clear and dogs should be kept on the leash in the vicinity of wildfowl.
Last occasion of ban
Voluntary restraint was applied in 2001, 2002 and 2003. There was a UK-wide ban in 1996/7 and the last Scotland-only ban was 1993.
Numbers of wildfowlers
There are around 2-3k resident Scottish wildfowlers. There are estimated to be up 10k wildfowlers visiting Scotland. January is generally a popular month and it is likely that around 1k or so wildfowlers will have planned visits disrupted.
Economic impact
It is likely that there will be some economic impact on businesses such as hotels and goose guides. Clearly if the ban can be lifted when it is reviewed after 7 days then the impact will be reduced. It is thought however that wildfowlers will understand and support the need to safeguard the welfare of flocks of wildfowl and avoid disturbance in these harsh conditions.