Permission has been requested for a traditional hunt of young seabirds to take place on an uninhabited Hebridean island later this August.
The guga hunt has been an annual tradition in Ness, north Lewis, since the 15th century, with 10 men setting out for the rocky island of Sula Sgeir 40 miles away.
Public body NatureScot has said it is assessing the latest application, and will make a decision on the licence at a future date.
Animal rights campaigners oppose the hunt and say it is no longer needed , with NatureScot coming under fire from campaigners last year when it granted a licence cull for hundreds of gannet chicks for the first time in four years.
Opposition to this cull led to slogans against the hunt being daubed on NatureScot’s Inverness headquarters.
Preotect the Wild campaigner Robert Pownall also stood as a Holyrood candidate in Edinburgh Central in May to highlight the campaign – but was accused of “cultural imperialism”.
Uninhabited by humans, Sula Sgeir is home to thousands of pairs of breeding gannets, with the men spending two weeks there in August, taking the birds from open cliffs using a pole and noose, before the creatures are gutted, salted and preserved in brine.
Traditionally the preserved birds are said to have formed an essential part of the winter diet for the people of Ness, but guga is now regarded as a delicacy by some, although it is said to be an “acquired taste”.
NatureScot officials said: "We have now received an application for a 2026 licence which we are currently assessing.
"The NatureScot board has confirmed that it will take the decision on whether to grant the licence when the assessment has been completed."
