Guga hunt has no place in modern Scotland, say activists in bid to end tradition

The guga hunt has “no place in a modern Scotland”, wildlife campaigners have said.

A small group led by conservation and animal welfare organisation Protect the Wild staged a protest against the guga hunt outside the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh on Wednesday, where NatureScot was co-leading a biodiversity conference.

It comes as NatureScot, the country’s wildlife agency, is assessing the latest application to allow this year’s hunt.

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.

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

Traditionally, the birds 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”.

Permission has been requested for the traditional guga hunt to take place this summer.

NatureScot issues licences for the hunts, and it is due to make a decision on the latest application on August 3.

Devon Docherty, Scottish campaigns manager for Protect the Wild, said: “I think today’s message was heard loud and clear by NatureScot and all of their business partners and also the Scottish ministers that were in attendance today – that the guga hunt has no place in a modern Scotland.

“We want our wildlife to be protected, we want NatureScot to simply do their job, which is to protect wildlife, not to licence outdated, cruel traditions.

“We just wanted to point out the hypocrisy of hosting a biodiversity conference while you’re allowing biodiversity to be decimated for a cruel tradition like the guga hunt.

“NatureScot are meeting in three weeks to make a decision on the guga hunt, and we’re here to remind them to make the right decision to end the guga hunt.”

Annie Huizinga, 27, from the Netherlands, was one of a handful of protesters outside the conference on Wednesday.

Ms Huizinga, who has lived in Edinburgh for three years, said she came to the protest on her lunch break to call on NatureScot to end the guga hunt.

“I’m vegan myself and I’m a big believer in animal welfare,” she said.

“I think it’s important for [NatureScot] to see that this isn’t flying under the radar, that it’s actually an issue that people care about and that they’re keeping an eye on, and I hope they vote wisely, otherwise we will be here again.”

Ms Docherty added: “All of the evidence points in one direction towards this hunt coming to an end. It’s absolutely unjustifiable.

“We just had the Animal Welfare Commission ruling that the guga hunt is not humane, and that none of the methods that they could use are humane. I think NatureScot should be taking that very, very seriously, otherwise they’d be licensing something that the experts say is cruel.”

In June, the Scottish Government’s nature agency said: “In 2025, we received our first licence application from the Men of Ness since 2021. After reviewing the survey data, collected in 2024 following bird flu outbreaks, we reduced the maximum number of birds that can be taken from 2,000 to 500 and a licence was granted on the condition that all birds must be killed humanely. This ensures the gannet population on Sula Sgeir remains stable for the future.”

NatureScot previously said it will consider the 2026 guga hunt licence “as required by the relevant legal frameworks and using the most recent scientific evidence”.

NatureScot has been contacted for an updated comment.