Question reference: S6W-10211
- Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 8 August 2022
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 31 August 2022
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to change the law regarding the protection of seagulls, including in particular herring gulls.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have any plans to change the law regarding the protection of gulls, including herring gulls.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 provides protection for all wild birds. NatureScot has responsibility for the issuing of General Licences under Section 16(1) of the Act, which authorise the killing and taking of certain wild birds including their eggs, for one or more of several reasons including public health and safety.
NatureScot held a consultation on General Licences between August and October 2019. Following this consultation, several species were removed from the 2020 General Licences, including herring, lesser black-backed and great black-backed gulls, either on the basis that there was insufficient evidence of the damage they caused; there are alternative non-lethal solutions; or there are conservation concerns over their population status. Where species have been removed from the General Licence, authorised persons are still able to apply to NatureScot for a specific licence to control them or undertake lethal control, including nest and egg destruction in some circumstances.
A UK seabird census, organised by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, is currently being undertaken which includes an element that aims to estimate the populations of species that breed in urban environments. The final report, which is due to be published next year, will help inform future policy in dealing with urban gull populations.