Wildfowling film Call of the Marsh premieres in Parliament

Wildfowlers brought their story to Westminster on 13 October, when BASC hosted a parliamentary screening of Call of the Marsh, a new documentary filmed on the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire. Co-sponsored by Robbie Moore MP, the Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Lord Glasman, the screening drew MPs and peers from four parties alongside regulators, conservationists and the wildfowlers themselves.

What is Call of the Marsh?

The film was made last January when BASC teamed up with The Origins Foundation and its founder, filmmaker Dr Robbie Kroger, whose charity has told hunting communities’ stories in the United States, New Zealand and Spain. In their own words, wildfowlers talk about the friendships, the wild food, the early mornings on the foreshore and the habitat they care for; the film won Best Documentary Short at the London Independent Film Awards in August 2026. Wildfowling clubs help look after more than half a million acres of UK wetland and coastal habitat, almost entirely voluntarily.

BASC chairman Eoghan Cameron thanked the wildfowlers who opened their clubs and marshes to the cameras. “For decades, wildfowlers have invested their own time, money and effort in protecting and enhancing these remarkable places,” he said. “The reserves, the voluntary bag limits, the restrictions on shooting days and the many other measures featured in the film weren’t imposed from above. They were developed by those closest to the land, because they understand that conservation and sustainable use go hand in hand.”

How was it received at Westminster?

Dr Kroger, who had never seen a British marsh before filming, said the project overturned his expectations: “From the American perspective, it’s all about bag size. What I heard about wildfowling in the UK was the antithesis of that. It’s about being part of the marsh, part of a tradition and a heritage. When I heard that story, I knew I had to tell it.”

Mr Moore described the film as incredibly moving. “I hope that government and policymakers, regardless of political colour, understand the extraordinary benefits that wildfowling can have, and that this is reflected in policy development in the future,” he said. Officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Natural England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Crown Estate watched alongside the British Trust for Ornithology, GWCT and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust.

What happens next

A national tour of screenings runs through 2026 into spring 2027, beginning with a 160-guest premiere at the ARC Cinema in Preston on 16 October, then Ilkley on 29 October, Yatton on 11 November, Holbeach on 16 November, Chichester on 22 November, Beccles on 23 November and Antrim on 25 November. The film will be made publicly available after The Game Fair 2027; details of screenings are on BASC’s website.