Operation Seabird scoops prestigious award at National Wildlife Crime Conference

The UK National Wildlife Crime Unit awarded Operation Seabird the Wildlife Crime Partner Operation of the Year award for 2021.

The award was presented at 32nd National Wildlife Crime Conference in Leamington Spa on Saturday (December 4), attended by Sergeant Jenna Jones, PC Williamson and PC Grant.

Humberside Police’s Rural Task Force is working with partners in North Yorkshire Police, Lincolnshire Police, the Marine Management Organisation, RSPCA, RSPB, and local authorities along with many other partners and charities to protect the coastline’s seabirds and marine mammals from persecution and disturbance.

Inspector Jon Powell said: “What an incredible and very well-earned award. The team has worked so hard to get the operation off the ground and for it to be taken up around the country by other forces is praise in itself.

“This award is in recognition of their hard work and ingenuity and I congratulate Rural Task Force officers Sergeant Jenna Jones, PCs Joshua Fawcett, Richard Fussey, Kevin Jones and Erica Williamson.

“Along with this award I am delighted to also hear that our incredibly dedicated Rural Task Force volunteer Gordon Calvert has won a Wildlife Crime Lifetime Achievement Award for 2021 for his amazing life’s work to help others.

sergeant Jenna Jones said: “The Yorkshire coastline is an amazing landscape that’s such an important feeding and breeding ground for a variety of seabirds and marine mammals.

“This valuable asset not only attracts visitors to explore the beaches and cliffs, but also attracts those wishing to explore the coastal waters themselves.

“Unfortunately we have a number of reports each year of members of the public on the water, approaching too closely to the wildlife that lives in the area, including the nesting seabirds and marine mammals.

“The key focus of the operation is to ensure that members of the public, who are using the waters along the Yorkshire coast, do so in a responsible way. We want to ensure they keep their distance from the wildlife to prevent intentional disturbance and to safeguard this stretch of coastline, allowing future generations to enjoy the spectacle we see today.”