A variety of factors tend to reduce the numbers of seabirds. The most important ones are outlined below, with comments on what has been done or what is expected to be done to reduce the impact of these activities on seabirds and protect this endangered resource.

Shooting of Seabirds

The shooting of seabirds in Denmark is considerable, because the seabirds are extraordinarily numerous, and the number of sportsmen is very large, amounting to about 135,000 (a larger number per capita than in any other country).

The Danish game statistics are excellent—well known to be much more accurate than in most other countries (see Salomonsen 1954; Strandgaard 1964). According to Danish bag records, almost one million ducks, geese, and coots (Joensen 1974:31) and about 100,000-200,000 gulls (Salomonsen 1954:125) are shot each year. The average annual bag of each species of wildfowl is given in Table 2 and the open season for each species of seabirds in Table 3. The open season for dabbling ducks is long, extending from 16 August to 31 December, which means that local birds are persecuted almost as soon as birds-of-the-year are able to fly. This has resulted in a dabbling duck breeding population that is much smaller than what the available food supply could support, and in the large-scale development of artificial rearing of mallards for later shooting. A 5-month hunting season on specialized birds like loons, grebes, and various auks is not good management practice and should be carefully reviewed.

Four other important facts about the shooting of seabirds in Denmark merit inclusion here: (1) there is no bag-limit for any species; (2) in general, all marine areas within territorial limits are open to all Danish sportsmen, and the admission is free; (3) motorboats with a maximum speed of 10 knots are allowed for shooting in the period 1 October-30 April; and (4) the shooting of seabirds is permissible from 1.5 h before sunrise to 1.5 h (in December 1 h) after sunset, whereas for most other birds shooting is prohibited between sunset and sunrise.

Shooting is a national tradition in Denmark, and the large number of sportsmen has considerable political power. Too much influence is given to the representatives of the hunters' organizations, which have the decisive force in game committees dealing with protective measures. It is difficult, therefore, to change the existing system.

Shooting of seabirds, especially various waterfowl, is popular and intensive. The number of ducks taken by Danish sportsmen is probably in the order of 10-15% of the total kill on the West European Flyway (Joensen 1974:171). Excessive duck shooting can, in some cases, be controlled by banding in the breeding areas; the ensuing results then give rise to strong protests from the Scandinavian countries against the extensive persecution. As stated above, Denmark has (in relation to its size) the largest number of sportsmen of any nation in the world and the most intensive shooting. The number of sportsmen shooting ducks and shorebirds per 100 km2 is 278 in Denmark, 28 in Sweden, 37 in Finland, 10 in Poland, 83 in Holland, 164 in Britain, and 129 in Western Germany; the number of ducks shot per 100 km2 is 1,856 in Denmark, 39 in Sweden, 68 in Finland, and 129 in Western Germany (Nowak 1973). This shooting is undoubtedly of importance to dabbling duck populations, which are popular as shooting objects everywhere in Europe.

Insofar as marine ducks are concerned, it can be seen in Table 2 that appreciable numbers are shot in Denmark. The same is true for other Scandinavian countries, whereas shooting on the high seas is rather modest in most other European countries. The Danish bag undoubtedly makes up a significant proportion of the total number of marine ducks killed each year, but when the total number of ducks in European waters is considered, the shooting pressure in Denmark appears to be of only minor importance. However, the shooting, particularly when undertaken from motorboats, is so noisy and makes such a disturbance over large areas that the time for seabirds to rest and forage is significantly reduced. It must also be noted that the number of pleasure craft is steadily increasing in the present period of prosperity, and that increasing numbers of sportsmen will probably make use of the free shooting in territorial waters, since it is becoming more and more expensive to lease hunting areas.