In England and Wales, where fish-eating birds are causing serious damage to a fishery, and where scaring methods have proved ineffective or impractical, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) or National Assembly for Wales Agriculture Department (NAWAD) may grant a licence to allow the shooting of a limited number of birds. It has to be emphasised that these licences are not to permit culling of the population; licences are only issued to reinforce the effects of scaring measures being carried out at the site. Applying for a licence is not as difficult as many people seem to think. Application forms are available from:

         Defra, Wildlife Management Team, Admin Unit, Burghill Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, BS10 6NJ
            Tel: 0845 601 4523 (local rate)
            Downloaded from www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/piscivorous.htm

         NAWAD, Food Farming Development Division, Yr Hen Ysgol Gymraeg, Ffordd Alexandra,
            Aberystwyth, Ceredigion SY23 1LD
            Tel: 01970 627762

           (For Scotland and Northern Ireland see Other Info)

Each application is considered on its own merits. On receipt of the application form, the applicant will be visited by a member of the Wildlife Management Team. These staff are professional wildlife biologists trained in wildlife management. A decision on whether to issue a licence will be taken by the Wildlife Management Team within 30 days of the application.

Defra/NAWAD also monitors all the licences issued in England and Wales to gather information on the effects of licensed shooting and other fishery protection methods. For England, a summary of this information is available from: www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/vertebrates/piscivorous.htm