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05/09/2014 Preliminary Results of the Shetland Greylag Goose Survey Respondent spread 24 respondents 14 from South Mainland Lyall Halcrow Graduate Placement Environmental Health Shetland Islands Council What is affected?


  1. 05/09/2014 Preliminary Results of the Shetland Greylag Goose Survey Respondent spread • 24 respondents • 14 from South Mainland Lyall Halcrow Graduate Placement – Environmental Health Shetland Islands Council What is affected? Financial damage • 92% of farmers affected • Total damage of £109,770 • Average of £4,990 per farm • Geese target fertilised crops particularly • Vegetables: turnips, carrots, potatoes • Does not include damage to pasture or silage. • Grasses: barley, oats, rape, pasture Turnip damage Other vegetable damage • Substantial damage to carrots and • Twelve reported damage potatoes. • Damage valued at £54,575 • Two respondents experienced significant financial damage to carrot crops • Two thirds reporting damage of 90-100% of • One gave up after losing an entire crop their entire crop. • Three quarters have stopped growing. 1

  2. 05/09/2014 Permanent grassland / Silage Droppings damage • Goose damage from eating, trampling and • Half raised concerns about droppings droppings. • Increased re-seeding • Concerns about animal health Two farmers have reduced stock • Two thought research had to be done concerning droppings and diffuse Keep animals inside for pollution. longer / increase feed imports. Difficulties in limiting damage Current goose scaring methods • Rated each method used out of 10 • Shooting – 3.2/10 • Visual scarers – 2.4/10 • Auditory scarers – 2.1/10 • Large numbers (average flock size 400) – 95% • Selecting fields for cropping 1.1/10 • Legislation – 57% • Availability of shooters – 40% • Knowledge of methods – 10% Rating possible improvements The open season in management methods 120 % of respondents experiencing goose damage • Extension of open season – 8.6/10 100 • Egg oiling – 8/10 80 • Remove restrictions on wild meat – 7/10 60 • More commercial / private shooting 7/10 40 • Compensation – 6/10 20 • Funding for scaring – 5/10 0 Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul • Funding in the SRDP – 5/10 The open season for hunting geese; 1 st September - 31 st January Half of damage is out with the open season 2

  3. 05/09/2014 Summary Population size • Famers feel the population is at a • Overall population of resident and unsustainable level. • On average they are losing £4990 per year. wintering geese: 8400 • Changing cropping patterns. • Stopped growing certain crops. • Most frequent: deduction to 2000 (a • Problems with the availability of local quarter of the present population) produce. • Average: reduction to 974 (an eighth of the • Current control methods are ineffective. present population) • New thinking is needed to control the population. 3

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