• Annual Management Report
• Annual Meeting
• Annual Survey
• Disturbance
• Management Scheme
• Management Scheme Activities
• Accidental vessel discharges
• Aerial Recreation
• Boat Repair/Maintenance
• Fishing - Shore Based
• Fishing/Shellfisheries
• General beach recreation
• Grazing and foraging
• Land Based Recreation (walking & dog walking)
• Littering
• Mooring and Anchoring
• Operation of FCERM
• Operation of Ports and Harbours
• Recreation - Non-motorised Watercraft (paddlesports)
• Recreation - powerboating or sailing with an engine
• Slipway and Jetty Cleaning and Maintenance
• Wildfowling
• SEMS Designated Sites
• SEMS Management Group
• SEMS Map
• SEMS Site Condition and Conservation Advice
• Solent MCZs
• Strategic Stakeholder Group

Wildfowling

This activity category is for the use of firearms to shoot wildfowl; it does not take into account use of dogs during these activities - in SEMS the impact of dogs is considered within the land based recreation activity.

Wildfowling is a largely solitary activity which involves the hunting of specific species of ducks, geese and waders with a smooth bore shotgun. It is undertaken primarily on estuaries and coastal marshes. In England the season runs from 1st September until 31st January above the high water mark and extends until February 20th below the high water mark. The majority of wildfowling is organised through a club structure but it can also be undertaken independently.

If the land is an SSSI, any activity listed under Operations Requiring Natural England’s Consent (ORNEC), including wildfowling, requires formal approval. This applies to landowners, occupiers, or leaseholders (e.g. wildfowling clubs). See Natural England’s approach to assessing and responding to wildfowling notices on Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and European sites.

Impacts of wildfowling include  direct mortality and disturbance, which can affect not only those birds being actively being hunted, but also birds feeding and roosting nearby, including non-target species. However it is also recognised that wildfowling clubs are about more than the activity of wildfowling, but often being integral to the conservation of wildfowl sites through wardening, land management and pest control. 

Defra guidance for sustainable wildfowling is to:

1. Have a good working understanding of local tidal patterns and bird habits so you can intercept birds whilst they naturally move between their daytime feeding and night-time roosting areas, rather than deliberately disturbing them from their resting or feeding places.
2. Plan and limit visits to avoid overharvesting and frequent disturbance.
3. Complete bag returns on the same day of shooting to ensure bag records and harvest level data is accurate.
4. Create temporal and spatial refuges. Temporal refuges are regular times of the day or week when no shooting takes place. Spatial refuges are areas of the site, which are appropriately located and managed, where no shooting takes place.

A wildfowling strategy template is available to plan wildfowling activities at a site.

Wildfowling on Crown Estate land requires a sporting rights lease, typically held by a BASC-affiliated wildfowling club. These leases are granted based on a management plan that outlines:

• Conservation measures
• Species monitoring
• Access control
• Compliance with SSSI or SPA regulations

Information from the British Association for Shooting and Conservation is available at: https://basc.org.uk/wildfowling/.