Natural England continues to approve wholesale destruction of wild birds' eggs

Hi folks,
Two topics in today's update, firstly I've been looking into Natural England's recently published licence data, and one particular licence, (of many), raised questions....

Hundreds of waterfowl eggs licenced for destruction
I have asked Natural England, by way of a freedom of information request, to explain why they approved the destruction of hundreds of eggs of Mute Swans (40), Canada Geese (100), Greylag Geese (600), Moorhens (350), Coots (250) and Mallards (500) .

These actions were approved under just a single example of their now infamous licences.

I don't know about you, but I've seen a marked decline in the numbers of all these species at a local level. It is clearly wrong headed to licence the destruction of their eggs.
What are they thinking?? 

This particular licence was renewed last year, and it has been active for a number of years, meaning that many thousands of eggs could have been destroyed.
Thousands and thousands of wild birds lost to the world.
This is a tragedy, it is unacceptable. And it is just one of the licences that Natural England approves and issues each year, with little accountability and next to no direct monitoring of the actions taken.

In years to come, this whole method of 'managing' wildlife will likely come to be seen as a national disgrace.

Well, in regard to my freedom of information request about this mass destruction of wild birds' eggs, Natural England have informed me with 'regret' that they "must extend the time limit for responding by a further 20 working days, because of the complexity nature of the request".
Not really surprising I suppose, the wholesale destruction of wild birds' eggs  is going to take some explaining after all....

The second piece of news today is also really disheartening I'm afraid....

Harvesting 'gourmet' gull eggs - licences approved for 2024.
It's the time of year when 'traditionally' the eggs of Black-headed gulls have been harvested to satisfy the gluttonous end of the fine dining market. Our campaign has helped to limit this unsavoury trade, and we have seen the withdrawal of most licences that enable the practice. 
It makes no sense at all to continue with licensing the harvesting of eggs of a threatened (amber-listed) species, for human consumption. It's patently obvious that this anachronistic practice should end. 
But two stubborn licences remained in place last year, in North Yorkshire, supported and approved by Natural England. 
The hope was that these last remaining licences would finally be withdrawn, as they have been in Hampshire, another traditional egg collecting area.
In 2023, these Yorkshire licences enabled the collection of 2,500 eggs to satisfy the appetites of well-heeled diners. 
And now, unfortunately, Natural England has - in its wisdom - decided to renew the licences again this year.
It's a disgusting trade. And it should stop.
​
Explaining their decision to renew the licences again this year, Natural England told me "The collection of Black-headed gull eggs is a licensable activity under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 [...] the licensing team undertook a site visit to one of the collection sites last year and can confirm the colony appears healthy and has grown substantially since the previous survey. At the national scale, the cumulative effects of black headed gull egg-collecting are considered very small in relation to the national population and egg production. Therefore, we continue to believe licensing at this scale is sustainable."

I think they're wrong.
​It might (possibly) be sustainable - just - but it's most certainly not ethical. I know many of you will agree.

In my response, I told Natural England the following... "It is indeed very disappointing to hear that Natural England has continued to sanction the two remaining licences, permitting the harvesting of Black-headed gull eggs.
I know that there will be much consternation over this among environmentalists, many of whom will struggle to understand the rationale behind the decision."

Rest assured I'll be in touch again when I have some more answers regarding the destruction of the waterfowl eggs. It should make for interesting reading.