Application for this year's guga hunt refused
Protests have recently been held at the NatureScot HQ in Inverness
Last updated 3rd Aug 2026
An application to carry out a controversial 'guga hunt' this year has been rejected.
The centuries old tradition has involved men from the village of Ness on the Isle of Lewis travelling to the inhabited island of Sula Sgeir annually and killing young gannets for their meat.
Protests against it, including those at the licensing body NatureScot's HQ in Inverness, have ramped up in recent times.
This decision to refuse this year's application was taken by NatureScot, after following advice from officials.
Animal welfare groups are welcoming the decision, but supporters of the Guga Hunt have accused campaigners of 'bullying' tactics against a small community.
'Victory for compassion, conservation and common sense'
As part of the hunt, young gannets – guga – are taken from open cliffs using a pole and noose, before being gutted, salted and preserved in brine.
This year's application was seeking permission to carry out a hunt of up to 500 seabirds, harvests previously involved up to 2,000 young birds being killed.
Due to concerns around bird flu, it did not take place in 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Scottish Campaigns Manager at Protect the Wild, Devon Docherty, says their focus now turns towards banning the hunt permanently.
She said: "Today is a victory for compassion, for conservation and for common sense.
"Protect the Wild is proud to have led the campaign urging NatureScot to refuse the licence, including a record-breaking petition, an animation narrated by actor Brian Cox viewed more than 15 million times, and high-profile campaign actions - including running a candidate in the Scottish Parliament election - which propelled the Guga hunt into the national spotlight and transformed it from a little-known tradition into one of Scotland's most closely scrutinised wildlife controversies.
"The fight is far from over. The Gannets of Sula Sgeir are not safe until the Scottish Parliament removes the law that allows the Guga hunt to continue, and our campaign is going nowhere until that outcome is achieved.”
Small island community 'bullied'
It was recently revealed more than £110,000 of public money was spent improving security and repairing damage at NatureScot’s Great Glen House headquarters in Inverness after activists targeted the building.
Earlier this year, two men dressed in gannet costumes were arrested and charged after spending several days on the building’s roof.
Save Our Guga Harvest group's Murdo MacRitchie, who is also a Ness resident, feels the move rewards 'bullying'.
He said: "People in Ness will understandably feel that this risks rewarding a campaign in which members of a small island community have been bullied and abused and publicly-owned property has been vandalised.
“NatureScot’s board must, of course, consider the scientific advice before it. But it cannot ignore the wider context in which this decision is being taken.
"Peaceful opposition is entirely legitimate; targeting individuals and damaging publicly-owned property is not.
"Given the report’s consideration of a 500-bird limit, it is not clear why a licence for a greatly reduced harvest has not been recommended.
"The population projections in the report are positive, and it is welcome that the advice does not prevent the community applying for and potentially obtaining a licence in future years.”
At the end of Monday's meeting, NatureScot’s chairman Colin Galbraith thanked officials for dealing with the licence application “professionally, impartially and with integrity”.
The agency said later: “We received a licence application from the Men of Ness for a 2026 guga hunt.
“After assessing the application against the legislation and using the most recent scientific evidence, our board’s decision is to refuse a licence.
“We have used the latest information available and commissioned an updated population model to help predict the effect of the guga hunt on the gannet population.
“As a result, we have concluded an adverse impact is possible, both at the applicants’ requested application limit of 2,000 juvenile gannets, and at a reduced limit of 500.”
The organisation added: “This decision does not prevent the Men of Ness applying for and obtaining a licence in future years.
“The hunt is recognised in law under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, and NatureScot has a duty to consider any licence application based upon the best available science.”