The campaign against the mass killing of gannets by the annual “guga hunt” on Sula Sgeir in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, is gaining momentum as a rare red‑listed seabird has also been shown to be negatively affected by it, which allows conservationists to join forces with animal rights advocates to try to ban this cruel tradition.
A Freedom of Information request by advocacy group Protect the Wild has revealed that the licensed killing of young gannets for their flesh is also endangering Leach’s storm petrels, who are red‑listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the UK’s Birds of Conservation Concern. Gannets themselves now have Amber list conservation status due to recent population declines, and the small island where the hunt occurs holds about 6% of the UK breeding population of these seabirds. Official documents from NatureScot warn that disturbance from the hunt “could cause a reduction in breeding success through nest abandonment or chick mortality,” with disruption linked to blocked burrow entrances, interrupted feeding, and stress and disorientation to the birds.
The guga hunt, which involves killing young gannets and dates back to the 15th century, is increasingly seen by environmental and animal protection groups as a senseless blood tradition incompatible with today’s ecological and ethical reality. Pressure is now mounting on the Scottish government to revoke the licence, amid growing alarm about both welfare issues and the cumulative impact on already struggling seabird populations battered by avian influenza, climate breakdown, overfishing, plastic pollution, collapsing marine ecosystems, and discarded fishing gear. Last November, award‑winning nature photographer Rachel Bigsby launched a petition in the Scottish Parliament calling for an end to the annual killing of gannet chicks, known locally as guga, which has now passed 100,000 signatures and will be carried over to the new Parliament after the May 2026 election. Explaining why she felt compelled to act, Rachel Bigsby told Oceanographic, “The guga hunt may once have originated as a historic food source, but it now exists within a completely different environmental reality… It was NatureScot’s failure to act meaningfully that led me to launch my petition. Because right now, the fate of seabirds seems to depend largely on geographical luck. Seabirds are protected from harm on every other island in the UK yet on Sula Sgeir, the same birds are exempt from that protection. I cannot stay silent whilst vulnerable seabirds continue to pay the price for it.”
