The BBC is, perhaps not unreasonably, plugging Sir David Attenborough’s latest series on its website. One of its pieces about this is headed “Sir David Attenborough show looks at puffins’ plight”. No doubt visitors to the website can find their way to this article by several different routes, but if stumbling on it via the Science & Environment section of the website the chosen excerpt to suck in readers is “Rare seabirds on the coast of East Yorkshire face threats from climate change, the RSPB says.”

Read the article, and that turns into “Puffins at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire have been affected by threats to their nests, food supply and climate change, according to the RSPB.”

Which is rather more nuanced, since the threats listed extend well beyond climate change. Nevertheless, someone from the RSPB was on hand to provide a useful quote:

Dave O’Hara, site manager, said seabirds were “the most threatened group of birds in the world”.

He said the UK’s puffin population was predicted to reduce by 90% by 2050 if global temperatures continued to rise.

“Lots of our seabirds here at Bempton Cliffs have been affected,” Mr O’Hara said.

The RSPB says rising sea temperatures mean the fish that rare birds feed on swim deeper in search of cooler waters, making it more difficult for birds to find them.

The charity said these challenges mean birds produce fewer chicks each year.

Historical data

One of the problems encountered when trying to get to the bottom of the question of puffin numbers is a frustrating lack of detailed historical data. Presumably in the past there wasn’t the focus on puffin numbers that there is today, so it’s difficult to know how they have fared historically, and therefore difficult to make comparisons between current and past numbers. Nevertheless, there are a few suggestions on the internet that in some places numbers may have been lower in the past than they are today, and in others numbers have recovered to those last seen before the Second World War, following a subsequent decline, possibly for lots of different reasons. I set out below a few examples, firstly from South Wales, with an article published on the BBC website on 24th March 2021, under the heading “Puffin numbers boom to 1940s-level high on Skokholm”.

The highest number of puffins since the 1940s has been counted on Skokholm Island off Pembrokeshire.

A total of 11,245 were spotted on Monday, compared to 8,534 last year, the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said.

The sea birds have begun arriving almost a month early for their annual return to the area to mate.

A similar count is due on nearby Skomer, which recorded 34,796 puffins in 2020, a 44% rise on 2019 figures.

Two years ago, 24,108 were counted on Skomer.

…Welsh ornithologist Ronald Lockley carried out studies and estimated the island’s puffins number hit a record number of 40,000, in 1934.

Numbers subsequently crashed, which the trust puts down to marine pollution, particularly from oil…

…Ms Gavigan said it was not clear why the puffin population was increasing now, but the trust is working with Oxford and Gloucestershire universities to carry out research into finding reasons.

Next, turning to the Farne Islands, just off the coast of north Northumberland, another BBC article headed “Puffin census on Farne Islands shows numbers rising” was published on 19th July 2013 (numbers may have fallen back again since then).

Puffin numbers in a habitat in the north-east of England are making a comeback despite thousands having perished in severe winter storms.

A census on the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, showed there had been an 8% increase from the last count in 2008.

There are now just under 40,000 pairs of nesting puffins across the eight National Trust-owned islands.

Articles relating to Puffin numbers on the Farne Islands suggest that the story is complex and that long-term trends are confusing. In 2018, Paul Homewood helpfully wrote about a Telegraph scare story which rather undermined its own narrative:

It means thousands of birds have vanished since the last count in 2013, with just 35,000 breeding pairs probably remaining. At the current rate of decline, conservationists forecast that the entire colony could vanish within 50 years, an alarming trend that is being seen across Britain.

Puffin numbers on the Farne Islands have been monitored since 1939, when just 3,000 pairs were recorded, but numbers rose steadily until 2008, when the population declined by a third from 55,674 to 36,835.

3,000 pairs in 1939! Almost twelve times as many in 2018.

Ten years earlier the Express ran a story which seemed to contradict the Telegraph’s claim of steadily rising numbers of Farne Island puffins to 2008, when its headline claimed “Surprise fall in puffin numbers”.

The number of pairs of puffins breeding on the Farne Islands has fallen by a third in the past five years, the National Trust said.

The three-month survey, in which wardens check if the burrows the puffins use to nest in are occupied by reaching in with their arms, found that numbers had fallen from 55,674 pairs in 2003 to 36,500 pairs this year…

However, for present purposes, the part of the article of interest is this:

The first detailed count of puffins on the Farne Islands took place in 1969 when there were 6,800 pairs of puffins.

Perhaps the number cited above for 1939 wasn’t terribly accurate, but it sounds as though the 1969 number might be credible, and if so there are many more puffins on the Farne Islands today than there were a little over half a century ago.

An additional issue might be that puffin census numbers were under-counted due to covid limitations and restrictions, at least according to an article on the National Trust website:

Although the pandemic made conducting the puffin count in 2020 and 2021 more difficult, rangers put in place a good system of monitoring to ensure vital data could still be collected. In 2021, 36,211 breeding pairs of Atlantic puffins were recorded across four islands, compared to 42,378 pairs across eight islands in 2019.

Numbers appeared to drop in 2021 due to the team being unable to carry out a full survey. However, it’s anticipated that a return to a full census in 2022 will lead to a more accurate picture. This year’s count is therefore a very important one for these popular seabirds.

I haven’t discovered the outcome of the 2022 census and would love to know the numbers it revealed.

Turning next to the Firth of Forth, an article in the East Lothian Courier on 6th August 2009 was headed “Wandering pufflings proof of rising numbers”.

Local puffin numbers are thought to be on the increase following the clearance of the once-abundant tree-mallow plant from Craigleith Island and the rise in numbers of sand eels, the puffins’ favourite food, on May Island.

Lynda Dalgleish, marketing manager of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said the increase in wandering pufflings on the mainland was evidence of a more robust population inhabiting islands off North Berwick.

Perhaps inevitably, climate change was blamed for the thriving tree-mallow; nevertheless, the article demonstrated rising puffin numbers when habitat problems were resolved.

Climate change and/or other issues?

While the RSPB is fully signed-up to climate alarmism, even it acknowledges that over-fishing of sandeels is a massive problem:

Whereas climate change is held primarily responsible for the decline of sandeel availability, the commercial fishing of this species is gravely exacerbating the problem. …

…New post-Brexit fisheries powers mean the UK can fight for its seabirds. It now needs to close UK waters to commercial sandeel fishing or, at the very least, drop catch limits so more fish are available for our seabirds.

Another article, which I think is aimed at youngsters, also illustrates that puffins face lots of problems. It starts by throwing the kitchen sink at the climate change explanation, but reading on it quickly becomes apparent that there are lots of other issues:

It’s predicted that the UK’s puffin population could plunge 90% by 2050 if global warming is unchecked. They’re facing threats to both their nesting sites and their food supply, and the climate crisis is only making things worse…

…Every year, thousands of tonnes of small fish are taken from the North Sea, making it harder for puffins to feed their chicks…

…In some parts of the UK, Puffins also have to contend with invasive rats feeding on their eggs and chicks, climate change causing increasingly frequent and violent storms, oil spills, and the emerging threat of bird flu.

Direct conservation can help. A rat-eradication project led by the RSPB, Natural England, the Landmark Trust and the National Trust on the island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel, meant that puffin numbers boomed from 13 to 375 just 15 years after the island was declared rat-free.

The last word

This article started at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire, so it seems appropriate to return there for something approaching a conclusion. A guest blog by a puffin volunteer on the section of the RSPB website dedicated to Bempton Cliffs does seem to suggest that while counting puffin numbers is fraught with difficulty, the ones that come ashore every year at Bempton Cliffs seem to be doing all right:

…The location of most all other puffin “caves” on the reserve is pretty much unknown—cliff height and lack of access make it virtually impossible to undertake any traditional kind of puffin count in the Yorkshire colony…In recent years, however, the reserve team has attempted to count puffins at sea at the start of each season….

…This at-sea counting task is fraught with challenges. There are over 7 miles of cliff top to walk, with elevations ranging from 200 to nearly 400 feet. Discerning a puffin at this distance from other auks (guillemots and razorbills) requires skill, patience and diligence!

Not to mention that puffins move on the tide and waves, fly, dive etc. So how do you avoid under-counting, or double counting? Poor visibility, tide, strong winds and waves all increase the degree of difficulty. But this type of survey method is used to census other marine life such as sea otters and can be used as an indicator of population trends. Repeating surveys over a number of years can balance out factors that can influence the count—weather, viewing conditions, animal movements etc. and over time can be used to understand whether a population is increasing or decreasing.

Based on these recent counts, and historical observations, we believe that the Yorkshire Coast population is around 3,000-4,000 puffins, but it is too early to determine whether this is a growing or declining population. But what we do know is that Bempton Cliffs’ puffins likely benefit from being within good commuting range of puffin supermarkets stocking a variety of prey species, including sandeels and sprats. Project Puffin and RSPB’s work with partners across the UK shows that such puffin populations are generally faring better than those that are experiencing dwindling sandeel supplies and a lack of suitable alternative prey.

Conclusion

Puffin numbers in the UK (as counted by humans) seem to be all over the place, and it’s difficult to get a handle on long-term trends (or, if the above blog quote is to be believed, even on current numbers). It seems clear that when island nesting grounds are infested by rats or tree-mallow plant, it will cause them major problems, as will marine pollution, and over-fishing of sand eels (their main food) by massive trawlers. Perhaps climate change is causing, and will continue to cause, a problem for puffins, but they have plenty of other problems, and it would be a pity if an obsession with climate change blinded puffin helpers to things that can be done to help. I am concerned that the RSPB seems to put climate change front and centre of its publicity and campaigning, but am also relieved that they recognise – and apparently take steps to try to deal with – other more pressing problems.

37 Comments

  2. “Rare seabirds on the coast of East Yorkshire face threats from climate change, the RSPB says.”

    To the BBC, the RSPB appears to be a greater authority on climate change than on avian affairs.

    Last June the RSPB opined “Bee-eaters in Norfolk ‘worrying sign of climate change’ ”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-61837499

    That was despite the inconvenient fact that bee-eaters were first recorded to have visited Norfolk in 1793.

    The BBC ignored evidence of over 80 different verified visits to UK by over 160 bee-eaters between 1793 and 1957.

    https://www.historicalrarebirds.info/cat-ac/european-bee-eater

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Joe, I was irritated by that BBC article and by the part the RSPB played in it, since I vividly remember seeing a bee-eater on the low hills above Kendal around a third of a century ago. Plus we have recently had them nesting near Brampton, and my understanding is that this nesting activity is certainly not the first in the county.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. May I invite the reader in need of another dose of medicine to get in his or her TARDIS and visit this old tale. It was unofficially my first Cliscep posting, kindly elevated from my (excessively long) comment by John. You will find there my explanation for the growth of the puffin colony on the Farne Isles.

    Meanwhile, data on puffins from the JNCC’s seabird monitoring program is here.

    I will now go and see if Lockley (& Fisher) say anything pertinent and will return if they do.

    Like

  5. Jit,

    I remember the article, and apologise for not referencing it. Let’s call my latest effort an update. 😊

    Like

  6. The Beeb’s ECU opined that the RSPB knew best; OFCOM ignored my rejection of the ECU’s decision.

    Like

  7. Sadly, that sounds like Ofcom. They ignored me on the only occasion when I tried to complain to them.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. OFCOM is stuffed with ex-BBC bodies. Being ex-BBC, they’re highly likely to have (or will soon get) lucrative BBC pensions.

    What p1sses me off regarding rejecting BBC-ECU complaints escalated to OFCOM is that there is zero feedback from OFCOM. It’s as though they bin every complaint.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Yes Monday at 6:50pm BBC local TV newsPR had an extensive item about this
    #1 Bempton is in our area ..#2 the local enviro reporter is a Climate Crank

    he relayed that “Puffins could reduce by 90%” claim
    “Puffins are a canary in the coal mine for Climate change”
    etc.
    etc,

    IMHO Puffin counting science is not robust, cos Puffins are fickle and don’t tick to the same place every year
    Seems they find where the puffins live this year and draw a box on the map
    Then year 2 the puffins largely choose to go elsewhere .. so the count goes down
    That’s why you get “puffin numbers boom” headlines for another place.13
    Year 3 : The puffins come back, but in slightly different boundaries
    However the counters stick to their rigorous box on the map and thus undercount
    And they don’t sample the entire zone. Rather they pick a sub box..and extrapolate
    then multiply upfollowing years they again use that sub-box and

    The TV item did mention humans fishing for sandeels is a massive problem:
    and a law banning this is about to come into force.
    They failed to mention that sometimes other animals who eat sand eels boom, so leaving less for puffins.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. There seems to be some confusion between Skomer and Skokholm, which despite obvious similarities and proximity, are in fact separate places. Lockley counted the puffins of Skokholm, which he thought had arrived from Grassholm.

    There were only one or two colonies of Puffins on Skokholm about 1890 (C. Haydon-Bacon, in litt.). About that time it was estimated that Grassholm, seven miles to W.N.W., was the breeding-place of over a quarter of a million pairs of Puffins {Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists’ Society, Vol. 26, pt. I., pp. 6-13). It is believed locally that these moved by degrees to Skokholm.

    PDF of his 1934 article: https://britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V27/V27_N08/V27_N08_P214_223_A034.pdf

    This JNCC pdf has regional puffin data, but only up to the 2000 census: https://data.jncc.gov.uk/data/1dae7357-350c-483f-b14d-7513254433a5/S2000-25-puf-tabs-figs-web.pdf

    There appear to be no puffins at all on Grassholm now, but lots of gannets. Let’s hope that new floating wind farm doesn’t cause trouble, eh? https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/pembrokeshire-floating-wind-farm-gets-welsh-government-backing/

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Tweet to the @horton_official the Guardian Climate journo
    Oh dear Helena, just like you grouse & Ritz story,
    together with *your puffins claim in 2019*, this has now proved to be total bollocks.

    Like

  13. stewgreen,

    She can be as “woke” as she likes as far as I’m concerned, so long as she gets the job done. Unfortunately it seems that’s a large qualification: what I find unacceptable is that Ofcom routinely ignores correspondence, and thus fails to do its job.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. “Skomer Island: Record number of puffins recorded”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-65122131

    A record-breaking number of puffins have been counted on and around Skomer Island, off Pembrokeshire.

    The first count of the year earlier this week clocked 42,513 birds, the highest since the island counts began in the late 1980s.

    March and April marks the start of the annual migration of puffins to the Welsh wildlife spot.

    The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said the number marks an “excellent start to the season”.

    The figure follows a previous record of 38,896 counted in April 2022.

    Leighton Newman, a warden on Skomer Island, said: “We’re fairly sure that the increase on Skomer is down to the breeding on Skomer for the past however many years.

    “We’ve got good productivity and good adult survival between years as well.”

    Mr Newman explained that the team waits for a calm day and then splits the island into seven sections for the count.

    “We go round with a clicker and we count all of the birds on land, all of the birds on sea, and all the birds in the air,” he said.

    However, Mr Newman added on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast it is becoming an “increasingly difficult task” as number rise.

    “My view right now is overlooking North Haven, where the boats come in, and there are just over 10,000 in this bay alone. So it’s becoming increasingly difficult – a long evening with a clicker by your side.”..

    Like

  16. “Scottish seabird numbers decline a ‘wake-up call'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66939022

    Almost half of Scotland’s seabirds have been lost in under four decades, a study has found.

    Populations dropped by 49% between 1986 and 2019 across 11 seabird species, before the current bird flu epidemic.

    The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) State of Nature report says the losses are part of a wider trend.

    It says declines may be driven by agriculture, forestry and fishing as well as climate change and pollution….

    …Paul Walton, the report’s author, said: “Every time we allow a species to go into decline, or to be lost from our country, we progressively undermine the health and functions our ecosystems. This is a fundamental problem for the living world, including us.

    “The findings should be a further wake-up call that, despite extraordinary efforts across our society to restore ecosystems, save species and move towards nature-friendly land and sea use, there’s much more we need to do to halt and reverse the decline.”…

    Well, quite. Wind farms, anyone? Not a chance:

    …The Scottish government launched a consultation on a new plan to tackle nature loss in September. It promised to accelerate the pace and scale of efforts “to address the biodiversity crisis.”

    Scottish Liberal Democrat climate emergency spokesman Liam McArthur said: “Almost half of species in Scotland are in decline. Meanwhile, the Scottish government has launched yet another consultation on a biodiversity strategy that was supposed to be implemented at the start of the year.

    “That is not the urgency we need to see in the face of a climate and nature emergency. Hopefully, this latest report from RSPB will be the wake-up call that ministers clearly need”.

    Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater said the report should leave no-one in any doubt about the damaging impact of climate change on Scotland’s plants and animals….

    Like

  17. “Number of nesting seabirds on Lundy island at nine-decade high”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/11/number-of-nesting-seabirds-on-island-of-lundy-at-nine-decade-high

    Tiny island in Bristol Channel has 25,000 Manx shearwaters – 95% of England’s breeding population – and 1,335 puffins

    Patrick Barkham
    @patrick_barkham
    Wed 11 Oct 2023 17.50 BST
    There are more seabirds nesting on the island of Lundy than at any time since the 1930s, conservationists have revealed.

    The tiny island in the Bristol Channel, a globally famed location for Britain’s seabirds, is now home to 25,000 Manx shearwaters – 95% of England’s breeding population – as well as 1,335 puffins and more than 150 pairs of storm petrels, a species that only arrived on the island in 2014.

    Despite the recent threat of avian flu, which has decimated wild bird populations in some of the world’s most sensitive locations, and the problematic decline in wild sources of food such as sand eels, the total number of seabirds on Lundy stood at 40,000 this summer.

    This is a massive turnaround after just 7,351 remained in 2000. Puffins were close to extinction, with just 13 counted on the windswept 450-hectare island in 2001….

    It seems that the elimination of brown rats from the island has done the trick. Climate change is perhaps much less significant than is thought with regard to things like declining bird numbers, but it’s easy (too easy) to blame everything on it.

    Like

  18. “Predator-proof Jersey seabird reserve gets public backing”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-67084008

    Plans to create Europe’s first predator-proof seabird reserve have received overwhelming public support.

    The project in Jersey would be designed to restore coastal habitats and protect wildlife from predators with a specialised one mile (1.6km) fence.

    Experts hope it will halt the decline of native species such as puffins and bring back missing species, such as guillemots….

    …The reserve is being proposed by the Birds On The Edge (BOTE) partnership – a joint initiative between The National Trust for Jersey, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Government of Jersey.

    The special fence – erected on the island’s north-west coast – would also be 2m (6.5ft) high.

    BOTE said it recognises the potential impact of the fence on the landscape, but added that at present it is the “only feasible solution” if Jersey’s native bird species are to be protected from predators like rats and cats….

    Not a mention of climate change. Predators, it would seem, are a major problem.

    Like

  19. And here’s another story in similar vein:

    “Rathlin Island: LIFE Raft project ferret traps activated”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-67139043

    The first of more than 400 ferret traps have been activated on Rathlin Island.

    They have been laid as part of a project to eradicate non-native predators from the island so that species like the puffin can flourish.

    Puffins are the arguably the most famous symbol of Rathlin.

    But with numbers declining by 40% since 1999, the race is on to protect the colourful ground-nester from predators before the balance tips.

    In a world first, the LIFE Raft project will see ferrets and rats trapped to eradicate non-natives from the island….

    …Similar projects have been undertaken on the Isles of Scilly, in the Shiants off Scotland and, most recently, on Gough Island in the south Atlantic

    But this is the first time that ferrets will be targeted as part of a conservation effort like this…./blockquote>

    Like

  20. “Lundy Island wild bird numbers soar”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-67386799

    Bird populations have soared on Lundy Island with some 40,000 rare seabirds thriving on its shores, said the RSPB.

    The island in the Bristol Channel is home to 95% of England’s breeding Manx Shearwaters, a species that was once on the brink of extinction on Lundy.

    Thanks to a project that eradicated rats from the island in 2006, the Shearwater population has soared from about 600 in 2001 to more than 25,000.

    Puffins have increased in number from 13 in the year 2000 to 1,335 in 2023.

    The island has also attracted new arrivals, such as Storm Petrels, which first bred on Lundy in 2014 and now have more than 150 pairs….

    As so often, nothing to do with climate, everything to do with habitat.

    Like

  21. Not puffins this time, but the story is the same. It’s not climate change – in this case it’s rats:

    “Significant decline in seabirds reported on Scilly”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw827l8yg2yo

    The number of seabirds recorded on the Isles of Scilly has declined by almost a fifth in eight years, according to a new study.

    A survey by conservationists suggested overall declines of about 18% between studies carried out in 2015 and 2023.

    The Isles of Scilly Wildlife Trust (IOSWT) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said action must be taken to restore habitats.

    They cited the removal of rats as a successful measure in allowing bird colonies to recover…

    …Where action has been taken to restore island habitats – for example successful rat removal on St Agnes and Gugh – burrow nesting seabirds have experienced a “remarkable recovery”.

    Storm petrels and Manx shearwaters have seen significant increases with numbers doubling in the last eight years….

    Like

  22. Not puffins this time, but little terns – and nothing to do with climate change:

    “Hedgehog fence aids recovery of threatened seabirds”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-67438164

    A threatened species of seabird is making a comeback in Dorset, with the help of a fence to keep hedgehogs away.

    The RSPB said at least 45 little terns successfully fledged at Chesil Beach in 2023, compared with just three surviving fledglings in 2021.

    Trail cameras revealed that hedgehogs had been eating the eggs….

    Like

  23. “Best pied flycatcher breeding season in a decade”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8v2qz8mg6vo

    Not a mention of climate change. The article is yet more evidence that whether a species thrives or struggles has much more to do with habitat loss (or improvement) than climate change:

    The number of rare, breeding pied flycatchers at a Lake District nature reserve has risen by 38% in a decade, the RSPB said….

    …Clearing reserves of holly that blocks out light had helped the small birds to flourish, the RSPB said.

    A spokesman said it also allowed plants and insects, a food source, to flourish.

    Breeding was also successful at the RSPB Coombes Valley and Consall Woods reserve in Staffordshire….

    …RSPB warden Spike Webb said: “I’ve been monitoring pied flycatchers in the ancient woodlands of Haweswater for many years.

    “Their population here has always been pretty steady which has been really encouraging.

    “However, this summer we had the best number in 10 years.

    “Given that these birds come all the way from West Africa in spring to breed here in the Lake District, it’s always a joy to see them back.”

    He said this year’s success was boosted by habitat management and the dedication of volunteers and RSPB staff.

    Like

  24. Mark, surely an increase in the numbers of pied flycatchers could be due to beneficial changes in West Africa or along their flyways? Why does the Lake District nature reserve automatically assume it is responsible for any increase?

    Like

  25. Alan,

    Good question. I suppose more flycatchers in one location doesn’t necessarily mean there are more flycatchers overall. Equally, if there are more overall, it will be due to numerous potential factors. That said, destruction of habitat must cause problems, and habitat restoration can only help.

    Like

  26. Yet more evidence that habitat matters to bird numbers far more than climate:

    “Rise in endangered bird species numbers after trial”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cermw898v33o

    Protective fencing will again be installed in a field where endangered birds are known to nest and raise their young.

    Trials over the last three years at St Mary’s Lands in Warwick show a rise in numbers of ground nesting birds, such as skylarks, returning to the fields each year….

    Like

  27. “UK’s puffin protection laws at centre of post Brexit row”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce9rrpn955qo

    Ah, the good old nature-loving environmentally-friendly EU…

    The endangered puffin – one of Britain’s most iconic seabirds – is at the centre of a row over the UK’s post Brexit freedoms.

    The UK recently banned fishing in the North Sea for the bird’s favourite food, the sandeel. But the European Union is demanding the ban be lifted, claiming it breaches the UK’s post-Brexit breakup deal.

    The UK and the EU have until Thursday to find a compromise or risk escalation, something that could eventually lead to sanctions against Britain.

    At stake, say conservationists, is Britain’s right to choose which wildlife it protects in its own waters.

    This is the first time the EU has triggered the dispute mechanism of the UK’s breakup deal, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

    Wildlife campaigners across Europe have reacted with fury at the EU’s demand, with 38 conservation groups pledging their support for the UK ban, including the RSPB, ClientEarth, Oceana UK, Birdlife International, and the Marine Conservation Society…

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Recognition that perhaps over-fishing, not climate change, is one of the main problems for puffin numbers:

    “Specieswatch: Sand eel fishing ban offers hope of stock resurgence

    Overfishing has threatened not just sand eels, but seabirds and larger fish that rely on them for food”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/aug/07/specieswatch-sand-eel-fishing-ban-offers-hope-of-stock-resurgence

    …Raitt’s sand eel, Ammodytes marinus, is the most common of a number of species of sand eels that live round the coasts of Britain and has been so ruthlessly commercially fished it has become threatened. The 30cm eel-like fish bury themselves in the sand in winter but emerge in spring and summer to breed and become a vital part of the marine food chain. Normally, this and other species live in shoals of many thousands in and around sandy seabeds and are food for many seabirds and larger fish. Catches close to 500,000 tonnes a year, mostly landed in Denmark, have wiped out stocks and as numbers have decreased, some seabird colonies have starved for lack of food.

    It has taken three decades of campaigning by a variety of scientists and environmental groups to finally get a ban on commercial sand eel fishing in the English and Scottish waters of the North Sea. The EU is contesting the ban but, meanwhile, stocks and seabird colonies could recover.

    The EU is contesting the ban. So much for its “green” credentials.

    Like

  29. Mark, it has taken Brexit for Britain to be able to enforce a ban on a fishery in its own waters. And those scientists and environmental campaigners trying to halt the fishery were largely against Brexit.

    The price of a closer relationship with the EU is, just as an ante, allowing the Danes back in. I will wait and watch with interest.

    Like

  30. “Puffins increase on Farne Islands despite bird flu”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr7rpmyjk7mo

    ...The first full count for five years on the Farne Islands off Northumberland has revealed the endangered species has in fact increased by 15% since 2019.

    There are now thought to be 50,000 breeding pairs on the site, which is cared for by the National Trust….

    But what about climate change? Surely this can’t be right? Oh, there you go:

    …Ben McCarthy, head of nature and restoration ecology at the National Trust said long-term monitoring was vital.

    “The Farne Islands will be an important bellwether for how they’re doing in the face of our changing climate,” he said….

    Like

  32. Mark: thanks for posting that. It’s good to read that they are well on their way to solving the problem. I hope we will see recoveries in seabird populations with efforts like this, the marine protection areas and the ban/reduction of sand eel fishing.

    Like

  34. “Sandeels vs the EU: how the puffin’s favourite food sparked first post-Brexit courtroom trade battle”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jan/27/this-could-be-catastrophic-uk-and-eu-take-brexit-fishing-ban-sandeel-battle-to-court

    “We did it!” These were the words uttered by the RSPB last year when, after 25 years of campaigning, the UK government banned fishing for sandeels in the North Sea and Scotland. The small eel-like fish might not seem a likely species to inspire a decades-long fight – but they are the treasured food of one of Britain’s rarest and most threatened seabirds, the puffin, as well as many other UK seabirds and marine species.

    The celebrations, however, were short-lived. The EU threw its weight behind Denmark – the country with by far the biggest sandeel fishing fleet – and challenged the ban, meaning that this week, the humble sandeel will become the focus of the first courtroom trade battle between the UK and the EU since Brexit.

    The ban, which applies to all UK and EU vessels, came after concern about how sandeel fishing affects puffins, kittiwakes and the wider marine environment. While UK vessels had already stopped fishing them before the ban began, they are an important catch for the Danish fleet, which has 96% of the EU’s quota for the species.

    The EU is arguing that the ban discriminates against Danish vessels and is therefore in breach of the UK-EU trade deal which set out full fishing access to UK waters….

    I really hope that for once, our supine new UK government stands firm on this one and fights a vigorous case. The EU is completely and utterly in the wrong here.

    Liked by 1 person

  35. A frankly disgraceful effort from those who should know better:

    “Farne Island puffins ‘may not survive the next century’”

    “Climate change and extreme weather ‘are biggest threats facing our seabirds’, says National Trust”

    Sophia Jackson, an area ranger, warned that climate change and extreme weather “are the biggest threats facing both our seabirds and seal populations”.

    Telegraph link.

    Liked by 2 people

  36. Jit – the “most liked” comments under that article agree with you, surprise surprise 🙂

    Just 1 at random – “Violet Twigs 4 hrs ago

    What a joke all forms of MSM have become. It’s frighteningly obvious just how aligned they all are on a narrative, whether it be Covid, Climate Change, you name it.

    Do me a favour DT… do you remember when you wrote articles about starving polar bears all down to climate change? Go do an update on that and let your readers know that they’re actually breeding like cats and your trusted paid for scientists got it wrong…”

    Liked by 1 person

  37. “Puffin comeback ‘proves restoration works'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgjded7v0neo

    Puffins have been seen on the Isle of Muck, external in County Antrim for the first time in years, after a major scheme to remove invasive brown rats.

    It is the first time the vulnerable seabird has been recorded on the tiny island off Islandmagee since Ulster Wildlife took over the management of the seabird sanctuary 25 years ago.

    A programme of rat eradication began in 2017 and winter grazing has now been implemented to keep vegetation low, so predator cover is reduced.

    The charity’s nature reserves manager Andy Crory said the discovery of the puffins “proves seabird restoration works”….

    Liked by 2 people

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