Following the recent statement by the Minister for Climate Change that there is no place for game shooting in any civilised society, I asked the First Minister to clarify the Welsh Government’s position on the game meat industry. His response showed the Welsh Labour Governments complete lack of understanding of where game meat comes from.
They fail to understand that all game meat is wild meat and therefore needs to either be hunted or shot. Without game shooting - a practice they appear to detest – there is no game meat industry.
The Welsh Government position on this is quite hypocritical because they have in fact spent millions of pounds trying to develop the Welsh game meat market, which is worth over £100million to the Welsh economy.
Game shooting not only provides for the economy but also has huge benefits for biodiversity. 939,000 acres of Welsh countryside are managed by game shoots and consequently they see the highest abundance of endangered species such as the curlew.
Game meat is not only a highly sustainable and locally sourced meat, but it is also low in fat and allows animals to enjoy a high quality of life before entering the food chain.
The Welsh Labour Government in my opinion appear to have an anti-rural agenda. Not only have they introduced an arbitrary 182 day minimum let for holiday rentals - a figure that most rural holiday lets will struggle to achieve - a tourist tax and categorised many farms needlessly as nitrate vulnerable zones, they are now consulting on whether to introduce licensing of game bird release, which if introduced would add considerable costs to game shoots forcing many to close.
I do not support the licensing proposals as I fear it will eventually result in the total loss game shooting. Game shooting is vital for rural communities, providing much needed income over winter months and biodiversity to our countryside. The importance of shooting is not lost on me and my Welsh Conservative colleagues. Instead, we will continue to call for the highest possible standards to be maintained by participants.
ENDS
