Gamekeepers fire salvo over vital jobs

GAMEKEEPERS believe shooting jobs have never been more valuable to Scotland, yet the industry is missing out on valuable support made available to other industries.

Although prospects for grouse are mixed in some regions, the season that started on August 12 starts a wider country sports programme which supports 8,800 full-time jobs per year in remote and rural areas.

Scottish Gamekeepers’ Asso - ciation (SGA) chairman Alex Hogg believes that, with un- certainty slowing Scotland’s economy, this rich seam of employment has never been more important.

He says the SGA, which represents 5,300 gamekeepers, stalkers, river and land ghillies, wildlife managers and rangers, will be looking to work constructively with politicians to grow the vital rural industry.

He said: ‘Compared to many other European countries, Scotland does not have an embedded hunting culture and chunks of the population don’t know the impact the shooting seasons have to the country, economically. The 2014 Value of Shooting report showed 8,800 full-time jobs relying on shooting.

‘Shooting jobs dwarf the growing music tourism market, creates as many jobs as our number one food export, the farmed salmon sector, and it will bring in more money than the Open Championship did at St Andrews in 2015.

‘There are real concerns for employment in rural Scotland at the moment, particularly in oil and gas, so gamekeepers and their families want to see the industry grow.

‘We want to work with the Scottish Government to make sure hard-working people can continue to rely on these posts in future.’

Mr Hogg continued: ‘Shooting, by its nature, will never be popular in everyone’s eyes and the divisions in the countryside now can be negative.

‘As an organisation, we seek to make progress and look forward. The industry has made significant strides in terms of best practice and regulation, today, is much tighter.

‘There are opportunities that remain to be developed that can increase Scotland’s reputation, particularly in terms of premium game products like venison and we want to work towards that.

‘It is important the skilled workforce is retained and new opportunities for the future are explored with decisionmakers.’