Review of bird quarry list proposed

BASC has said it will challenge proposals to remove or amend the right to sustainably harvest wild bird species. The society has responded to the upcoming government review by calling for self-regulation over the total removal of certain species, as Felix Petit has reported in Shooting Times

The focus of the government review is likely to be on duck species such as pochard and pintail, which seem to be declining. Coots, moorhens, black grouse and ptarmigan will also be looked at. Brent geese, Egyptian geese and mandarin duck may be added to the quarry list as their UK numbers are increasing.

BASC has conducted a review of UK quarry bird species and has created a ‘sustainable shooting framework’. With similar reviews, the shooting community has asked for a self-regulatory approach so it can carry out habitat creation and targeted conservation, but this requires stakeholder trust. It is also notable that public perception of shooting has become increasingly polarised.

Richard Negus, conservationist and wildfowler, expressed his concerns about the data that such reviews can be based on. “Wildfowl counting can be done with inconsistent methodologies; no single survey should be the sole arbiter. A carte blanche ban on harvesting a species based on data from one source, such as the British Trust for Ornithology, can oversimplify a complex picture. Lots of the data is gathered from the bag numbers reported by wildfowlers alone. Population estimates should include details on species sightings as well as incorporating nesting habitat surveys and continuity surveys. Combining these approaches would provide a more holistic picture than I believe is currently available.”