Pheasant and partridge classified as species that imperil UK wildlife

[CarlW]

Carl, I think this is one instance were the shooting organisations haven't even been given the chance to make a concession. Time for BASC to flex it's muscles and dip into it's fighting fund.....or look forward to similar occurrences in the future.

The reason for last year's lead debacle was to distract attention from (buy goodwill against) this release issue.

It failed.

Just as the medical mess before that failed to buy us ten-year certificates.

And next year, some other concession will fail...

Shooting will eventually die, and it will be our fault.

 

[Conor O'Gorman]

The evidence base is here:

Ecological Consequences of Gamebird Releasing and Management on Lowland Shoots in England - NEER016

publications.naturalengland.org.uk

 

[Cawdor118]

Release them 501meters away? Hate the game, not the player.

 

[kes]

For Rapid Evidence Assessment read 'evidence that was ignored' as not meriting consideration or am I missing something?
Sorry, cant even claim a limited success from this debacle - next will come Wales and general releases - how many precedents before BASC et Al adjust to life as it is now and take protective legal action? Maybe their QC doesnt think this is a good idea either and advises they rely on 'lobbying' which has clearly failed, as previously.

 

[JMikeyH]

The evidence base is here:

Ecological Consequences of Gamebird Releasing and Management on Lowland Shoots in England - NEER016

publications.naturalengland.org.uk

Thank you Conor. At 110 pages it will not be a fast read though I see a good number of pages are references.

One thing which jumps out at me immediately is the following

"We note that there are some coarse patterns relating to the effects of releasing and managing gamebirds. In general, effects that we might consider to be subjectively positive are usually a consequence of gamebird management activities (Associated Effects) and most effects that we might consider negative are caused by the released birds themselves (Direct Effects). We found reasonable evidence for physical disturbance of soil, nutrient enrichment of water and soil, reductions in nonwoody plants (especially those of conservation interest) due to damage or enrichment and reductions in abundance and/or diversity of at least some invertebrate species at or close to release sites. We found weaker, less or more ambiguous evidence that the released birds predated small vertebrates (reptiles), posed a direct competition to non-game species, spread disease to non-game species, influenced the genotypes of wild conspecifics (in England) or that their carcasses supported increases in generalist predators. Some negative Direct Effects have relatively straightforward management solutions and these are discussed in the relevant sub-sections....

...Working within the normal range of releases described in the papers we reviewed (a few hundred birds to a few thousand gamebirds in any one pen) it was a consistent result across studies that smaller releases had a reduced effect. This has been previously suggested and it forms the basis of the Code of Good Practice, advising that no more than 1000 birds be released per Ha of pen and that only around one third of woodland on a shoot be used as a pen. However, it is evident from the densities reported in the papers that, while average pen densities have in general gone down in recent years (presumably because pens have become larger), this advice is still often ignored."

So we have our own evidence, from our side, that this practice has a negative effect and that our self-imposed "best practice" is ignored!

And as a result of this being ignored, we are now facing licensing and the thin end of the wedge!! We should have acted sooner. We have the science and did nothing with it.

 

[VSS]

Now where will Waitrose get all those tens of thousands of pheasants they plan on selling, to the delight of the appeasers...?

You and I, Carl, are going to catch 'em by night, using lead-free methods, just as we did in the past

 

[enfieldspares]

I'm sure that another...what's it cost now...£3,000 on a driven day at Catton Hall for those same MPs that went last year, and the year before, and the year before, etc., etc., etc....will sort it all out.

 

[Donnachaidh]

The reason for last year's lead debacle was to distract attention from (buy goodwill against) this release issue.

It failed.

Just as the medical mess before that failed to buy us ten-year certificates.

And next year, some other concession will fail...

Shooting will eventually die, and it will be our fault

 

[Donnachaidh]

BASC seems to put far too much faith in its abilities to 'quietly' lobby; which hasn't been a successful strategy so far. I watched the BASC presentation by Christopher Graffius, and personally found it condescending...it was very much 'leave it to me, because I know how to play the game'.

 

[baguio]

The Guardian. I stopped reading after that!

 

[User00035]

Thank you Conor. At 110 pages it will not be a fast read though I see a good number of pages are references.

One thing which jumps out at me immediately is the following

"We note that there are some coarse patterns relating to the effects of releasing and managing gamebirds. In general, effects that we might consider to be subjectively positive are usually a consequence of gamebird management activities (Associated Effects) and most effects that we might consider negative are caused by the released birds themselves (Direct Effects). We found reasonable evidence for physical disturbance of soil, nutrient enrichment of water and soil, reductions in nonwoody plants (especially those of conservation interest) due to damage or enrichment and reductions in abundance and/or diversity of at least some invertebrate species at or close to release sites. We found weaker, less or more ambiguous evidence that the released birds predated small vertebrates (reptiles), posed a direct competition to non-game species, spread disease to non-game species, influenced the genotypes of wild conspecifics (in England) or that their carcasses supported increases in generalist predators. Some negative Direct Effects have relatively straightforward management solutions and these are discussed in the relevant sub-sections....

...Working within the normal range of releases described in the papers we reviewed (a few hundred birds to a few thousand gamebirds in any one pen) it was a consistent result across studies that smaller releases had a reduced effect. This has been previously suggested and it forms the basis of the Code of Good Practice, advising that no more than 1000 birds be released per Ha of pen and that only around one third of woodland on a shoot be used as a pen. However, it is evident from the densities reported in the papers that, while average pen densities have in general gone down in recent years (presumably because pens have become larger), this advice is still often ignored."

So we have our own evidence, from our side, that this practice has a negative effect and that our self-imposed "best practice" is ignored!

And as a result of this being ignored, we are now facing licensing and the thin end of the wedge!! We should have acted sooner. We have the science and did nothing with it.

Trouble is JMikeyH, as soon as you say we should have headed this off by getting our own house in order, you get shot down by your own side.
It seems the only permissible response is to deny everything, refuse to admit we are ever at fault and circle the wagons and anyone who refuses to join the suicide pact is a traitor.

WJ know shooting will respond like this to any criticism and so they use it to play us like fiddles.

 

[kes]

BASC seems to put far too much faith in its abilities to 'quietly' lobby; which hasn't been a successful strategy so far. I watched the BASC presentation by Christopher Graffius, and personally found it condescending...it was very much 'leave it to me, because I know how to play the game'.

It would seem not.
'Pride goeth before a fall', unless you have no shame.

 

[kes]

Trouble is JMikeyH, as soon as you say we should have headed this off by getting our own house in order, you get shot down by your own side.
It seems the only permissible response is to deny everything, refuse to admit we are ever at fault and circle the wagons.

WJ know shooting would respond like this and they play us like fiddles.

I have to say Finch this is DEFRA statement before a decision on JR and does not reflect shootings view other than to question, whether WJ's tactic is at all justified after nearly 2000 years of released pheasants. As far as I know nothing is in danger of extinction and the dager to most species comes from intensive farming and loss of habitat. The fact that many woods were planted to support pheasant releases for sport appears irrelevant.
I note no evidence either from France or America where I could accept from either but rather the Americans an attitude you suggest but they are not subject to EU legislation, and find climate fluctuations irrelevant.

 

[Roestalker39]

We deserve everything we get. Giving ground and making concessions has not worked, yet again. In my opinon, we are the ****s; not Wild Justice.

It would seem constant capitulation and bending over voluntarily doesn’t work ???? Who knew ???

 

[Buchan]

The real trouble with this is threefold:
1. The militant approach taken by Wild Justice
2. The inability of the shooting organisations to admit there is a problem
3. Neither group being prepared to admit that there may be a middle ground.

 

[gixer1]

Enjoy it while you can...the shift to liberal leftism is the majority now, it’s the reason even Waitrose’s game rep is talking about Millennials and the conscience of food source and
raceability.

I think recreational stalking/shooting will be a thing of the past within the next couple of decades.

If you don’t believe me, go onto any social media open to the public and put a post on about how excited you are about going on a 500 bird day next week to shoot pheasants and partridge and see how many likes, angry faces and comments you get!

I think in 50 years time when deer are in record numbers and dying of starvation and getting hit by vehicles regularly and in really poor condition and songbirds and ground nesting bird numbers have plummeted some lefty will admit that some of the field-sports community ideas and reasonings were actually correct.

regards,
Gixer

 

[Malxwal]

What a shock to hear BBC Radio reporting this in the news, along with, yes, you guessed it, a spiel from the cash and pie grabbing uber twitcher Avery. So much for impartiality.

 

[CarlW]

What a shock to hear BBC Radio reporting this in the news, along with, yes, you guessed it, a spiel from the cash and pie grabbing uber twitcher Avery. So much for impartiality.

I listened to it on 'Farming Today' this morning. They followed it with a segment on foxhunting, including interviews with antis who admitted committing crimes. All that said, it was less hateful than I expected. They were at least pretending to be balanced...

 

[Rake Aboot]

Hopefully driven bird shooters can call on the support of fieldsportsmen who have already lost their sport, to stand next to them in support, you know ? like coursers and lurchermen , and fox hunters.

Maybe naw though eh ?

I said this was coming and this is the thin end of the wedge. They may be ****s, but they are clever ****s. Head burying will not work.

 

[Tamar]

What a shock to hear BBC Radio reporting this in the news, along with, yes, you guessed it, a spiel from the cash and pie grabbing uber twitcher Avery. So much for impartiality.

Farming Today have been covering this several times during the week, including an interview with GWCTs Roger Draycott (vs Avery) on Friday morning, and an interview with an impartial NE/BASC Review author on Monday morning. They also interviewed Tim Bonner CA this morning (again vs Avery). So although we might not want to hear some views, or want them to be heard, it's not accurate to say that in this case the BBS are being biased. It's now a public matter, so if your head is down buried in the sand, you leave your butt in the air for a good kicking.