00:03Yeah, we're here today because NatureScot, Scotland's Nature Agency, are having a board
00:07meeting where they're going to be discussing the Guga hunt. That is, it's happening in the
00:12Outer Hebrides where 10 men sail to a protected seabird colony and they beat the chicks to death.
00:17It's for a tradition, it's for a local delicacy and NatureScot has the power to stop it. So we
00:21are here asking them, please do your job, protect wildlife and reject the Guga hunt license.
00:28So NatureScot are having a board meeting today where they're going to be formally discussing
00:32the Guga hunt and that board meeting document it did show some signs to be hopeful. It showed
00:37that NatureScot are setting a bit of a higher bar this year for the Guga hunt to continue. They're
00:42going to take into account the impacts on other seabirds upon biosecurity risks and wider disturbance.
00:49So we just can't see how taking all of that into account they could possibly license the Guga hunt
00:54this year. It would be unconscionable. Bird flu has absolutely devastated seabird colonies
00:59and the Guga hunt was paused for a couple of years but the birds haven't recovered from that and
01:04it's not just about whether the Guga hunt can happen, it's about whether it should happen.
01:09And when we're talking about native seabirds being bludgeoned to death in the middle of a
01:14biodiversity crisis, I think that answer is very clear. This should not be happening.
01:18We've had conversations with NatureScot and we're happy to keep that dialogue going but at the end
01:24of the day all we're asking them to do is to do their job to not allow wildlife to be
01:29slaughtered
01:30needlessly. We don't think that's a big ask for NatureScot.
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