Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2025
I ask Mr Ewing to speak to NatureScot and those who are monitoring our bird populations across Scotland. The fact that herring gulls are on the red list of protected species suggests that the science behind that shows that herring gull populations are collapsing.
Scotland is an internationally important location for herring gulls; we host about a quarter of the global breeding population. The pressures from climate change, food shortages and avian flu have contributed to the worrying declines in seabird populations, but they continue to be under attack in local areas.
I get people writing to me about gulls all the time. A group of people from Burntisland wrote to me this week to say that they are concerned because Forth Ports has demolished a hangar at the old Burntisland Fabrications site. Young, flightless herring gull chicks were stranded on that roof and were killed when the hangar was brought down. Dozens of nesting sites were destroyed. That might hearten Douglas Ross and some members of the Conservative Party, but I say to them that that is a wildlife crime. It is a crime that will be investigated by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Police Scotland, because these birds are protected for a very good reason.
There are options for authorities to control gulls where they are causing a problem. There are three circumstances in which that can take place—when there is a threat to human health and safety, when other non-lethal measures have been ineffective and when it is not harmful to the conservation of the overall population. That is the basis of the current licensing regime.
We have to consider what happens in our towns around waste management, and I point to the situation in Stirling. Tuesday is bin collection day in the centre of town, and we have bagged bin collections. Of course, the gulls flood into Stirling on a Tuesday morning, because they know that they can get an easy meal by opening up the bags. They are smart and intelligent creatures. I have also seen local residents putting out bread for the gulls between the times when waste collection takes place, which exacerbates the problem.
We need an approach that is led by councils, involves NatureScot and the business community and educates local people about the best way to manage gull populations. We also need an approach that respects the fact that these species are under attack and are declining in population. They are protected under law, and we should find a better way to coexist with them.
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