“We have been assured that the government is trying to put in place measures which would prevent similar incidents from happening again in future.”Ī Defra spokesperson said the department had tried to balance the egg trade with the country’s “high standards of biosecurity following this year’s avian influenza outbreak. The NGO said it was too early to say how the shooting season would be affected, but its chairman, David Pooler, was pleased with how the government had acted. Birds also mix in central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan on migration routes. One theory of how the virus circulates is that the birds that migrate to the Arctic during the summer then pass it to each other. The virus spreads from wild birds to captive ones, possibly through droppings and direct contact. Outbreaks killed thousands of seabirds in the Farne Islands off the coast ofNorthumberland earlier this month, and thousands more gannets, gulls and puffins across Scotland, leading to a ban on visitors to 23 Scottish islands.
Diners will have to wait until the end of September before they can eat his pressed duck again.īird flu has been reported in 35 European countries in 2022, and the UK saw a near fivefold increase in cases to 122 so far this year.įree-range eggs were unavailable for five weeks because the outbreaks meant that British chickens had to be kept inside, and last month Defra established a research consortium led by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (Apha) to investigate how to prevent the spread of the virus. The farm was given the all-clear only in mid-July, he said, but they are now trying to find new stock. “This farm has been in business since the 1930s and they are the main farm for three-star Michelin restaurants. “I have not been serving any duck since it started,” he said. Canard à la Presse is his signature dish, made with Challans ducks from the Maison Burgaud farm in the Loire. Otto Tepasse founded his central London restaurant, Otto’s, on traditional French cuisine. By 22 June, there had been 1,464 bird flu cases, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).įrench farmers have been devastated. The last outbreak in France was detected on 17 May and 16 million farmed birds, including poultry, were culled. “If you want to start shooting on 1 October, your birds need to be eight weeks old by the end of June when they can be released into the wild.”įorty percent of pheasants come from producers. “Even if we were still in the EU and operating under the 30-day rule, we would still have been in trouble,” Boulton said, adding that French officials had created false hope among shooters that imports might restart in time. After weeks of negotiations, ministers reached an agreement with the EU for a “bespoke arrangement”, but not France.
The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) campaigned for the government to create special licences allowing imports before the 90 days were up. But international exports must wait for 90 days, under World Organisation for Animal Health guidelines adopted into UK and EU law.
“Roughly half of the birds that we rear in this country originate from an egg laid in France,” Boulton said, estimating that about 90% of partridges and 40% of pheasants come from producers, with “virtually all” in the Loire valley.Īfter avian flu is detected on a farm, the birds are culled and 30 days later the farmer can start trading birds domestically – which for French farmers means within the EU. The initial signs of disruption came at the end of February when the first case of bird flu was discovered in the Loire valley. This year’s dramatic reduction in game birds will also affect beaters, catering companies and restaurants, Boulton said, adding that 75% of rural land is managed for shooting of some type including game, and the industry is worth about £2.4bn. It also objects to the use of poisonous lead ammunition, which the government is considering outlawing.
The RSPB says that birds of prey are killed illegally to protect game birds. Groups such as Wild Justice have campaigned for a reduction in releases, saying that only 30% of the birds are shot and retrieved, which means the survivors indirectly affect protected wildlife. A red-legged partridge: 57m partridges and pheasants are usually reared in the UK each year.