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| Juvenile herring gulls on the whale's tail rock groyne in Cleethorpes |
Although nationally in decline, both species are common in some cities and towns, especially those on the coast, where their aggressive behaviour and food-stealing antics can cause distress.
Unlike their counterparts in, say, Scarborough or Bridlington, the local birds are mostly relatively docile.
The identities of those seeking culling licences have not been revealed but the list could include some seaside councils.
Natural England says that such has been the increase in workload to process the applications that extra staff have had to be deployed temporarily to the licensing team.
During the course of the next fortnight, applicants will know they have been awarded licences.
Natural England's director of wildlife licensing, Dave Slater, has issued this statement.
"Since opening the process, we have received very high numbers of applications for control of the two gull species and for control of wild birds on protected sites.
"The scale of lethal control of these gulls that has been applied for is considerably greater than the levels of lethal control which Natural England have concluded are ecologically acceptable for these species.
"We understand that some applicants will be disappointed if they do not receive licences.
"However, NE must ensure that the licences it issues will not be detrimental for the conservation status of protected species.
"Our research indicates that the breeding population of herring gull, a red listed species, has fallen by 60 per cent since the 1980s, with amber listed lesser black-backed gulls declining by an estimated 48 per cent."
"NE must also ensure that the licences it issues do not adversely affect the conservation objectives of statutory protected sites.
"These are legal requirements with which Natural England must comply."
Mr Slater continues: "Many applicants will want to act upon their licences urgently, especially now that the bird breeding season is upon us, and I want to thank them for their patience.
"This work has taken longer than we originally anticipated, for the reasons explained below.
"We have to date received almost 1000 applications, around three quarters of which arrived with us in March, many of these after the gull application deadline of 15 March.
"A significant number of these applications did not include all the required information and have taken additional time to go back to applicants to ask for this necessary information.
"We have brought more people into the licensing team to increase our capacity to address this unexpected additional workload.
"We have also been working with stakeholder groups to test that the conditions in the licences will be clear and workable for users.
"For the named gull species in particular, we need to ensure there is adequate information on large numbers of applications, and then assess them together.
"This is because we must undertake an assessment of cumulative impacts on conservation status before we issue these licences.
"In addition, where any applications are on protected sites, such as Special Protection Areas (SPAs), we need to ensure that we have the information we need in order to be certain there will be no adverse effects on those sites."
Mr Slater concludes: "We expect to able to start notifying applicants very soon as to whether or not their application has been successful.
"I recognise it will be challenging for those who do not receive the licence for lethal controls, but this will be due to the conservation constraints required by law. "
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| Checking out the view from aloft a street lamp - lesser black-backed gull |
https://bit.ly/2SeqhN7
* See also parlamentary debate on herring gulls at:
https://bit.ly/2Y7RBAb
* Further reading:
https://amzn.to/3aGXAyH
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