LEWIS — NatureScot's board is expected to approve a fresh licence for the upcoming guga hunt on Sula Sgeir. The decision comes amid scrutiny from animal welfare organizations regarding the annual cull of juvenile gannets.

OneKind and the League Against Cruel Sport Scotland published a joint report stating that the current legislation for the hunt is outdated. The report states that existing hunting techniques breach a key licence requirement. Jenkins argued that the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 are based on imprecise definitions.

Kirsty Jenkins, author of the joint report, argued that these acts do not align with modern evidence on animal sentience. Jenkins said, "There is no independent oversight or monitoring of the guga hunt, hampering any effort to undertake an animal welfare impact assessment. Indeed, given the Scottish government's public commitment to the evaluation of its policies, the lack of scrutiny of this licence condition appears particularly remiss."

Robbie Marsland, director of the league, stated that protest tactics have been counterproductive. He said, "Those tactics have been counterproductive, entrenching support for guga hunting on Lewis in the Western Isles." Marsland, who supported petitions calling for a ban on the hunt, added, "It is a hunt for food, no doubt about that. It is not a sport, it is a tradition. People on Lewis do not think it is horrific."

Hunters snare the guga, which are juvenile gannets that have not yet fledged, on cliffside nests using long poles with retractable nooses. The birds are then clubbed unconscious and decapitated. The carcasses are cleaned, split open, singed on an open fire, salted, and left to dry.

The hunt has legal protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 due to its historical roots in the Ness peninsula and its role in subsistence food gathering. Around 10 men travel to Sula Sgeir, an uninhabited island 40 miles north of Lewis, for the hunt annually, traditionally camping for up to two weeks. The cull limit for the hunt was reduced to 500 in the previous year due to concerns surrounding the effects of avian flu on the local gannet population.

A NatureScot spokesperson said the agency will conduct a new gannet survey to check population stability. The spokesperson said, "We will assess the 2026 licence application carefully to determine if granting it will affect the long-term stability of the gannet population on Sula Sgeir, in accordance with existing legal frameworks. The assessment by NatureScot will be informed by the latest scientific evidence including an updated population viability analysis model."