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Two wildfowling clubs have now got consent to shoot on the Humber, but with strict bag limits.
By Barnaby Dracup
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Natural England has finally granted two Humber wildfowling clubs shooting consent — but with heavy restrictions.
Just days before the shooting season, 2 wildfowling clubs in the Humber estuary Special Protection Area were granted long-awaited 5-year consents to shoot by Natural England (NE).
However, fowlers say the consents are riddled with provisos and restrictions that jeopardise the future of the sport on the estuary.
For the past 5 years, Hull & East Riding Wildfowlers’ Association (H&ERWA) and Holderness & Humber Wildfowling Association (H&HWA) have been at the centre of a battle to secure the right to shoot wildfowl on the estuary, amid NE’s claims of wildlife disturbance.
H&ERWA’s Ken Arkley explained how NE’s newly imposed restrictions on bag limits could lead to ever-diminishing bag returns: “On the Upper Humber, the consents now have a maximum level of usage set at what was previously the 10-year average usage figure. It is likely, therefore, that if the bag returns over the next 5 years are anything less than the consented maximum, we will have a similar problem and further attempts to reduce our shooting levels.”
Mr Arkley added there is a similar situation in the lower Humber, as well as an additional new temporary refuge area near Patrington Haven (restricted by the tides) in which shooting is not allowed.
“This brings the total number of new refuges to four in the lower Humber as part of the new consent,” he said.
Humber fowlers fear what they view as a highly unsatisfactory outcome could be used as the blueprint for other wildfowling clubs: “This process has been hugely frustrating and stressful,” said Ken Arkley.
“NE has failed to see the bigger picture. It has often felt like it has been looking for problems. It seems to have no understanding of wildfowling whatsoever.”
This news comes at the same time as an internal NE document, Natural England’s Approach to Assessing and Responding to Wildfowling Notices on SSSIs and European Sites, has been circulated around the fowling world.
According to Simon Breasley of Thyme Consultants, who has helped numerous clubs gain consents, the document’s recommended procedures make it near impossible to gain a consent.
He said: “At our recent meeting with NE we were pleased that we gained a commitment from NE to review its internal guidance and approach to wildfowling consents in a year’s time.”
NE’s regional director for Yorkshire and Humber, Peter Nottage (who has been praised by the Humber clubs for his pragmatic approach to wildfowling), defended the bag averaging system: “Wildfowlers do great conservation work and NE certainly does not want to get in the way of that. I am not an expert on wildfowling, but I understand how passionate wildfowlers are about their sport. NE does not want to place unnecessary restrictions on wildfowlers. It wants to maintain an active dialogue to ensure the best possible solution is found. The 5-year consent means that we are able to review bag levels intermittently. If, after that time, bird populations have increased then we would look to increase the bag limit as well.”
Director of conservation at BASC, Dr Tim Russell, said the association has worked hard to achieve the outcome on the Humber: “Sites that have international designations for waterfowl like the Humber bring obligations and requirements for NE, for wildfowlers (and others) that use them - that is why wildfowling notices are considered individually. BASC and NE have worked closely over consents for the upper Humber. We came to a sensible and legally robust conclusion that allows wildfowling to continue at similar levels and for a longer period than the previous consent, without compromising the importance of the site. Before NE can consent to wildfowling, it needs to know what the level of activity is likely to be, hence maximum visit numbers and an ‘indication of likely bag’ must be provided. BASC will continue to monitor the application of NE’s guidelines to ensure it does not unnecessarily restrict wildfowling here and on other sites.”
The Countryside Alliance’s Tim Bonner was highly critical of NE: “This situation was avoidable and NE is to blame. The future of wildfowling on Special Protection Areas should not be decided by bureaucrats. The Humber fowlers went above and beyond to prove to NE that shooting is not causing a problem on the estuary, yet they’ve been treated disgracefully by a quango that presumed them guilty from the outset.”
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