IN THE struggle for existence, the feathered creatures are losing out to the
denizens 6f the deep. Every year,
Scotland carries out licenced. killing of at
least a thousand wild birds to save
salmons. Conservationists claim that
there is no scientific justification for the
cull. The Scottish Office (so) is under
fire for obliging fisherfolk by permitting
more birds to be shot than in England
and Wales. The so fisheries department
has issued 568 licences to fishing organisations to kill 4,946 goosanders, 3,730
mergansers and 4,420 cormorants over
the past 13 years. "There is no proof that
these birds do serious damage to fish
stocks," said Ray Murray, president of
the Scottish Ornithologists' Club.
The Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds (RSPB) has accused the so of
holding back scientific evidence on
which it decides to grant applications
for licences. "We fundamentally
question whether this is justified," said
Ian McCall from the RSPB in Scotland.
The so dismissed the charges made by
ornithologists, saying that licences were
issued "to prevent serious damage to
fisheries".
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