Game meat's unlikely allies

The game market has proven resilient in the face of Covid restrictions, says Richard Negus

- Richard Negus

Unless you are reading this as a resident of the idyllic yet remote Federated States of Micronesia, you will be, by now, fed up to the back teeth with COVID-19. Island states such as this are the only places on earth that have succeeded in staying virus-free. To date, more than 76,300 Britons have died showing COVID-19 symptoms. Financially, the virus is ruinous. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates our Government borrowing will top £394billion for the current financial year — that is a whopping £339billion over pre-Covid expected borrowing requirements. In the future, countless tomes will be written on the economic disaster that this virus has piled upon nation after nation.

Our niche rural bubble of shooting and conservation has, of course, not been immune to nor removed from the implications of Covid. Restrictions and lockdown led to the cancellation of many early-season shoot days. The resumption of shooting coincided with restaurants, hotels and pubs being either shut or severely limited in operation, thus removing one of the largest markets for game meat. At a glance this would seem disastrous; however, having spoken with Louisa North, head of operations for the British Game Alliance (BGA), it would appear all is not doom and gloom when it comes to Covid and game. She reports that rather than nosediving, sales of game are actually buoyant.

The first ally for game sales came in the unlikely guise of devolution. Mark Drakeford, the leader of the Welsh Assembly, and Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister, permitted shooting to continue, while the Prime Minister vetoed the sport for those of us who live in England.