Question reference: S6W-06905
- Asked by: Claire Baker, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 25 February 2022
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 10 March 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the reported 49% decline in the index of breeding seabirds in Scotland since the 1980s, what assessment it has made of the impact of the reported increased mortality of seabirds recorded along the North Sea coasts in autumn 2021.
Answer
The Scottish Government has been working with other organisations across the UK, including UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, the Sea Mammal Research Unit and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science to investigate the unusually large numbers of emaciated and dead seabirds that were found along the North Sea coasts in autumn 2021.
Due to the long life spans of many seabird species, the full impacts of the increased mortality in 2021 may not be evident for a number of years. However, long term monitoring of populations and individual survival at some seabird colonies may provide an indication of the impacts of the recent mortality event, although these data will only become available from the autumn of 2022.