In line with other bodies, GWCT Scotland recommends that the shooting (in compliance with Scottish lockdown rules) of wildfowl and waders should be voluntarily limited from 6 January 2021 until the freezing weather conditions abate. Ground has been widely frozen for over a week in much of the country.
Restraint until the weather becomes milder would be responsible; birds may be facing fewer opportunities to feed with higher energetic demands. A statutory (legal) suspension of shooting can triggered after 15 days of severe weather.
Data from the Met Office supplied through the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to GWCT and other bodies is used to assess the need for voluntary restraint. See here for more information.