Scottish islanders refused permission to stage annual guga hunt

Agnes Rennie, is chair of Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn, the local community land group for the north of Lewis. She said: “The guga hunt is a centuries-old tradition which reinforces our unique communal identity and helps families keep ancient Gaelic customs alive and relevant in the modern world.”

Historian Donald S Murray said food security was not guaranteed, and argued that the hunt was not unique.

He said that in New Zealand sooty shearwater, also known as muttonbirds, were traditionally hunted on Rakiura, which is also known as Stewart Island.

Murray described the campaign against the guga hunt as “monstrous”.

Anti-guga hunt graffiti was sprayed on walls at NatureScot’s headquarters in Inverness in February, and was followed by a rooftop protest in March.

Murdo MacRitchie, of the Save Our Guga Harvest group, said peaceful protest was “entirely legitimate”, but criticised some of the opposition.

Ahead of NatureScot’s board meeting, he said: “People in Ness will understandably feel that this recommendation risks rewarding a campaign in which members of a small island community have been bullied and abused and publicly-owned property has been vandalised.”

He said Sula Sgeir’s gannet population projections were “positive” and he could not understand why a harvest of 500 birds was not supported by officials.