Meeting description: We discussed the Member's role as LINK Nature Champion for Common Tern and what we see as the pressures on seabirds from climate change offshore wind and intensive fishing. We highlighted the alarming decrease in the breeding abundance indicator an average decline of 49% for a range of seabirds in the recent State of Nature Scotland report and that this decline had taken place before the recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza epidemic. We voiced RSPB Scotland's support for the Scottish Government's recent consultation on closing Scottish waters to industrial sandeel fishing and expressed the hope that such a closure could be acted on ahead of the next sandeel season in April 2024. For more information on the Nature Champions scheme please see https://www.scotlink.org/link-campaigns/nature-champions/. For more information on the State of Nature report please see https://stateofnature.org.uk/countries/scotland/.
Topic label: Climate