Poached gulls' eggs on Masterchef (2 Viewers)

[Mícheál]

Hi,

I accidentally stumbled across the finals of Masterchef Pro on the BBC earlier tonight and was intrigued to see poached gulls' eggs (they looked like Black-headed Gull eggs) on two separate menus cooked on the programme - one of these meals was cooked for 50 people.

Why is this tolerated in such a conservation-conscious country as the UK? I was astonished to see this (presumably legal but very ethically dubious) activity getting such high profile endorsement by the BBC and would love to hear more of the background to this legalised egging.

Mícheál

 

[Stoggler]

Hi Mícheál

A very small number of people have licences to take gull eggs for human consumption. It is tightly controlled and the numbers of eggs allowed to be taken is restricted each year.

Gull eggs used to be eated a lot more than now, but due to conservation concerns the practice has been restricted.

 

[scary-canary]

Hi Mícheál

A very small number of people have licences to take gull eggs for human consumption. It is tightly controlled and the numbers of eggs allowed to be taken is restricted each year.

Gull eggs used to be eated a lot more than now, but due to conservation concerns the practice has been restricted.

Sounds outrageous - who gives out these licences and how is it monitored?

 

[thenorthernmonkey]

Maybe if BF members complained to the BBC it may stop it from happening again. Unfortunatley the British dont complain enough.

 

[Steve Dudley]

Licenses for such items are controlled by the statuary agencies such as Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, etc. See here for details.

 

[JWN Andrewes]

If they are being harvested in a sustainable and responsible fashion is this really a problem? Any more than fising or hunting for the purposes of providing food? I'm no fan of blood sports, but I have no problem with anyone having mackerel that they've been out and caught for breakfast, or shooting a rabbit and putting it in a pie, or these items ending up on a menu in a restaurant for that matter, so why not Gulls' eggs? Providing the collecting criteria are, as I mentioned already, sustainable and responsible, and of course adhered to.

Steve deserved to win by the way; good decision.

James

 

[Pete Mella]

I must admit, as long as it's done sustainably I've not really got a problem with it. Let's face it there's not going to be a mad rush to Sainsburys tomorrow of people asking for BHG eggs, Masterchef is about posh food to stare at not a practical "how to cook" show.

 

[scary-canary]

I must admit, as long as it's done sustainably I've not really got a problem with it. Let's face it there's not going to be a mad rush to Sainsburys tomorrow of people asking for BHG eggs, Masterchef is about posh food to stare at not a practical "how to cook" show.

Would you object if the took a few puffins from the farnes every year... in a "sustainable" way? I just can't see why they need to promote a food that cannot be farmed.

 

[Stoggler]

Would you object if the took a few puffins from the farnes every year... in a "sustainable" way? I just can't see why they need to promote a food that cannot be farmed.

Not sure that's a fair comparison. We know the relative levels of different bird species populations in this country and the effect of taking eggs has on them. Gull populations are not in the same situation as puffin populations. And the fact that the taking of gull eggs is licenced and monitored is a positive approach, and it allows the activity to be limited. Should gull numbers drop then the activity can be curtailed completely, but as long as there are healthy numbers the activity will continue in this controlled and limited manner.

As pointed out by others, is there really any difference between this and catching your own fish to eat, or rabbit?

 

[Steve Dudley]

Gull eggs have been eaten world-wide for centuries by many nationalities. They have been done on the basis that most (all?) of the species harvested were local to a human populous and common enough to harvest regularly (sustainably).

The taking of gull eggs in some areas is used to reduce gull numbers as a conservation tool to reduce gull predation on other species, e.g. gulls nesting in tern colonies (I was party to this personally in removing gull eggs from a tern colony containing Roseate Tern in the 1980s).

There is an abstract of an interesting paper here (unfortunately the full paper is pay-to-view). This abstract explains some of the impacts harvesting has on local gull populations.

Personally I don't think we should liken the harvesting of species such as Puffin with gulls. In Britain there has only ever been very limited harvesting of Puffins for human consumption, whereas harvesting of gull eggs was widespread at one time, but now is strictly controlled under license.

For me the most damaging aspect of this is remains the unexplained use of gull eggs. Regardless of the likely audience of MC, the inclusion of gull eggs without explanation could lead to gull eggs being taken by those ignorant of the law on the basis they saw it on a BBC programme. For me its akin to the questionable TV promotion of collecting fungi.

 

[chris butterworth]

As far as I can remember, the only site in the U.K. that permits to collect the eggs of BHG's, or any other species, from is Needs Oar Point. The colony is massive and is monitored before collection is allowed and strict limits are enforced. All the same it's possible that using them on a TV programme could increase pressure on the statutory bodies to accept collecting from many other locations. The way Michelin-style cooking is going it won't be long before some pretentious prat tries to serve Larks tongues etc. Lets all give a warm welcome back to the Roman Empire!
Chris

 

[Steve Dudley]

I presume it is the Needs Ore Point colony which is covered in the paper I mentioned earlier.

I agree with Chris's point about possible increased pressure on the agencies.

 

[ColonelBlimp]

I remember reading that they are collected from other areas as well, e.g. Barden Moor in Yorkshire.

 

[Pete Mella]

Would you object if the took a few puffins from the farnes every year... in a "sustainable" way?

It's not that I particularly love the idea of BHG eggs being harvested, just I think there's bigger things to worry about. It's just a TV programme having a perfectly legal foodstuff on. They're prohibitively expensive and hard to find in shops anyway, so it's not like there'll be a run on them.

I don't see the big difference between this and, say, eating woodpigeon. Do you object to that too?

 

[Mícheál]

Hi again,

Thanks for the replies, fascinating in one way - and this applies in Ireland too - the idea that something being 'traditional' makes it sacrosanct even if it's a bit bonkers.

The logic that allows this would of course also permit
- 'sustainable' egg collecting - just for commoner species
- Hen Harrier 'management' (only on sporting estates, so that it is 'sustainable')
- Using Little Egret plumes in hats again - after all their populations are probably back to a level that would allow 'sustainable' harvesting again.

However I don't want to broaden out a very focussed discussion.

There is published evidence that shows that although gulls re-lay after their nests are robbed, the egg quality, hatchability and chick survival rate are all significantly compromised.

Furthermore, the issuing of any licences creates a legitimate market in the product, and legitimises ANY gull or tern egg on ANY menu ("Oh well, it must be one of those ones they issue the licences for"). In June 2003 approximately 1,000 tern and gull nests on the Copeland Islands off Northern Ireland were robbed, presumably for the restaurant trade. The existence of a legal market in which these eggs could 'disappear' must have been a factor in the calculations of the thieves.

We need to remember that gulls are colonial breeders. It is a bit simplistic to justify collection at Needs Ore Point or anywhere else just because it is a large colony - that colony might represent the entire breeding population of a large region.

Re Pete Mella's comparison with shooting Woodpigeons - a fair point except that Woodpigeon is not a species of conservation concern, where Black-headed and Common Gulls are, and their populations are under increasing pressures with the improvements in rubbish tip management and sewage disposal. And when we think about where gulls spend their day (sewage outfalls, rubbish tips), it is ironic that their eggs are considered edible, while there is paranoia about farmed chicken eggs & Salmonella. Having said that, a bit of well-placed dysentery might make these delicacies a bit less desirable.

In summary, in my opinion we as a species throw enough hazards at our shrinking wildlife populations without allowing self-indulgent practices like this. We really need to understand that population declines are usually a result of complex and multiple pressures, and we need to work to ease those that we can influence.

Although I am not a UK licence payer I intend to write to the BBC, they have an excellent record in supporting conservation and wildlife broadcasting, and seem amenable to reason, and I would urge anyone reading this to do the same.
This is a truly shameful practice. We might not stop it, but I bet we get it off Masterchef!


Mícheál

PS To see some other, less easily controlled, hazards that we as a species are responsible for - see http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=11

 

[Imaginos]

IIRC one of the other dishes cooked in the final was turbot, I seem to remember an earlier episode had three contestants cooking eel, and tiger prawns are regular on this type of programme.
I know this is BIRDforum but why the furore now over the sustainable harvest from a gull colony when much more threatened species are consumed on our screens with great regularity?

 

[Mícheál]

Hi Imaginos,

Because it's the CONSERVATION subforum on BIRDforum?

What is your assertion of sustainability based on?

Mícheál

IIRC one of the other dishes cooked in the final was turbot, I seem to remember an earlier episode had three contestants cooking eel, and tiger prawns are regular on this type of programme.
I know this is BIRDforum but why the furore now over the sustainable harvest from a gull colony when much more threatened species are consumed on our screens with great regularity?

 

[PYRTLE]

Hi Imaginos,

Because it's the CONSERVATION subforum on BIRDforum?

What is your assertion of sustainability based on?

Mícheál

So Micheal,

Will you also mention in your letter to the beeb about broadcasting an item showing Clarkson eating Ortolan Bunting, albeit in France? Also, in relation to your inclusion of the phrase "ethically-dubious" what about eating eggs from commercial battery hens - do you source yours from a sustainable and ethically sound farm? Also, I don't believe bhg are in any way endangered at the moment unlike little egrets were substantially hunted and became extinct as a result of the activity you mentioned. For the record I do not see any harm although I personally would not partake of this or plover eggs, or eat golden plover etc.

 

[Pete Mella]

Re Pete Mella's comparison with shooting Woodpigeons - a fair point except that Woodpigeon is not a species of conservation concern, where Black-headed and Common Gulls are, and their populations are under increasing pressures with the improvements in rubbish tip management and sewage disposal.

Perhaps woodpigeon wasn't a great example due to their ubiquity, a better example would be something like woodcock that is amber listed but still hunted and eaten legally in small numbers (and probably with far less regulation and care than the BHG egg harvest).

I'm not saying I'm fond of any of these practices, by the way.

 

[Mícheál]

So Micheal,

Will you also mention in your letter to the beeb about broadcasting an item showing Clarkson eating Ortolan Bunting, albeit in France?

Why not? Although I didn't see it and would be more comfortable dealing with the specifics of what I actually saw.

Also, in relation to your inclusion of the phrase "ethically-dubious" what about eating eggs from commercial battery hens - do you source yours from a sustainable and ethically sound farm?

Yes I do as it happens.

Also, I don't believe bhg are in any way endangered at the moment unlike little egrets were substantially hunted and became extinct as a result of the activity you mentioned.

They are in decline all over Europe, but I have no specific information on the UK. Black-headed Gull's are amber-listed by the BTO as 'of conservation concern'
http://www.bto.org/images/news/bocc3.pdf



Mícheál