Activists protest outside Holyrood as guga hunt petition reaches 100,000 names

Activists protested outside the Scottish Parliament as a petition to end the guga hunt passed 100,000 signatures.

The hunt has been an annual tradition in Ness, north Lewis, since the 15th century, with 10 men setting out for the rocky island of Sula Sgeir 40 miles away.

Young gannets – guga – are taken from open cliffs using a pole and noose, before being gutted, salted and preserved in brine.

Activists from Protect The Wild staged a silent protest outside the Scottish Parliament on Monday, ahead of a Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee meeting on Wednesday.

At the meeting, MSPs will decide whether to close the petition or carry it forward to the next Parliament for further scrutiny after May’s elections.

The committee has confirmed, while it will continue to meet, it will not consider petitions submitted after October 10 to ensure all petitions currently in the system can be considered before the next Scottish Parliament election. The guga hunt petition was submitted on November 3.

The protesters had tape over their mouths and held signs reading “Don’t Silence Us” as they said they are concerned that the petition may be delayed to the next Scottish Parliament in May.

Devon Docherty, Scottish Campaigns Manager at Protect the Wild, said: “More than 100,000 people have now spoken out against the guga hunt, sending a clear message that it’s time for this cruel practice to end.

“This petition is by far the biggest this Government has seen, the fourth most signed in Scottish history, and the single largest petition relating to animal welfare in Scotland. To shut it down now would be profoundly undemocratic.”

Uninhabited by humans, Sula Sgeir is home to thousands of pairs of breeding gannets.

Traditionally, the birds are said to have formed an essential part of the winter diet for the people of Ness, but guga is now regarded as a delicacy by some, although it is said to be an “acquired taste”.

Docherty continued: “The gannets of Sula Sgeir should not be subjected to such brutal deaths for the sheer misfortune of being born on that island.

“A protected species should actually be protected. Killing them in the name of tradition, especially when that tradition is no longer necessary for survival, is completely out of touch.

“It’s time to update this archaic law and ensure these wonderful birds receive the protections they deserve.”

The killing of wild birds in Scotland is illegal. However, the guga hunt falls into legal exemption in Section 16 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981), specifically allowing gannets to be taken from the island of Sula Sgeir for the purpose of human consumption, as per historical tradition.