Wildfowling on Eden Estuary suffers a setback

Wildfowling on part of the Scottish foreshore has been threatened by a change to the permit system for shooting on the Eden Estuary in North-East Fife. The permits issued by Fife Council for wildfowling on the Eden Estuary Local Nature Reserve (LNR) for the 2009-10 season show that wildfowling has been banned on over a mile of foreshore where it was previously allowed. 

The East of Scotland Association for Wildfowling & Conservation (ESAWC) discussed the matter as an emergency item at a committee meeting on 23 August and launched an immediate campaign to have this wildfowling restored. 

 Eric Begbie, the ESAWC Press Officer, explained, “When the LNR was set up, at the request of wildfowlers, a number of sanctuary zones were incorporated for conservation purposes. One of those, Sanctuary Zone B, protected an area that was used as a major pinkfooted goose roost. In order to preserve the right of wildfowlers to shoot along the perimeter of this zone in the traditional manner, the spatial definition of the sanctuary zone carefully avoided map references and defined the western boundary as “20 metres below high water mark”. This meant that, whatever alteration occurred to the position of the high water mark due to accretion or other land changes, the sanctuary boundary would move in a corresponding manner and the 20 metres shooting strip would be preserved.” 

“Now Fife Council has changed the rules and effectively banned wildfowling on this area of the LNR.” Mr Begbie continued, “The Eden LNR was declared at a time when there was a high level of co-operation and trust between wildfowlers and other conservationists and it would be a pity if this trust were diminished. This action by a statutory agency has nothing whatsoever to do with the conservation of wildfowl or wildlife habitats and bodes very badly for the future of traditional wildfowling in Scotland.”

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