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They had settled on the roof of the library for a vital shepherding session. However, ensuring the existence of the species and passing on the lineage would be anything but easy for the herd of crutches in danger of extinction.
As the northern Norwegian spring sun warmed the nesting birds, it was as if Odd Børretzen’s line of text “I Hate Seagulls” suddenly developed. By order of the municipality, the Hammerfest fire department seized the hoses and released them. The result was that the nests were reduced to their original twig and tassel.
Half a year later, the reaction of the police is clear. Now the municipality of Hammerfest has a fine of 100,000 crowns on the table, a real cold shower that they refuse to accept. Thus, the case goes to court on January 21.
– Adequate level of punishment
Police Inspector Thomas Eliassen Darell has issued the fine. You do not want to give any detailed information about the evaluation of the six-figure quantity, other than that it has been evaluated as a correct reaction.
– Without prejudging the main audience, the determination is based on what is considered the correct level of sanction in such a case. Beyond this, I will not comment on this at the current stage, Darell tells Dagbladet.
– incomprehensible
Krykkje has seen a sharp decline on the continent in recent decades. After it was estimated in the 1990s that there were around half a million breeding pairs, the number has today dropped below 100,000.
The species has been protected for hunting since 2007 due to the sharp decline.
PEACE: The crutch population has dropped dramatically. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
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On the fact that a municipality, with its responsibility to safeguard biodiversity and the protection of endangered species, has committed an environmental crime, Police Inspector Darell says the following:
– In the same way here, this intervenes in the core of the sentence. Therefore, we will not comment on this now. But that a municipality is the defendant in such a case, it is probably reasonably obvious that it is important.
FUGLEIDYLL: This is how it looked on the roof of the library before the municipality was washed. Photo: Olaf Andreassen
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– I didn’t kill anyone
Hammerfest Township Councilor Leif Vidar Olsen says the reason they have not accepted the 100,000 kronor fine is that they think the sum is too high. He also emphasizes that they have not killed birds or destroyed eggs, and that this was not the intention of the municipality either.
– The sentence is based on a serious violation of the law, which we believe is not the case. We see in hindsight that we should not have thrown the nests, but the purpose was to prevent nest formation, not to harm or kill the birds, which we have not done either. That’s an important point, says Olsen.
COUNCILOR: Leif Vidar Olsen in Hammerfest Township. Photo: Hammerfest Township
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The result was not successful either, as the crutches ended up building their nests in the ceiling after washing. Thus, 127 of them ended up with nests on the roof of the library, according to the councilor, who asks other advice on how to overcome the problem of seagulls.
– People have complained to us that there is so much seagull shit on the sidewalks where crutches nest and we take it seriously. It was not the first time we received phone calls about this, says Olsen, who would like to solve the case outside the judiciary.
– We believe that the assessments made by the police are too strict and, therefore, we wanted a new assessment of the case. They wouldn’t, and then we ended up in court. Then we will see in January what the result will be there, says the councilor.
