Sharkbait Productions produce wildlife and nature documentaries for broadcast and online distribution. Please contact us for more information.

Status: Pre-production
Director: Stuart Spray
Writer: Stuart Spray and Kevin Duffy
Contact: Stuart Spray mail@sharkbaitproductions.co.uk
Release date: 2011
Genre: Documentary

The 'Species on the Brink' team will investigate why nearly 30 years after the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) became law, many of our rare plants animals, are still struggling on the edge of extinction. Over six episodes, the series will follow conservationists on the front line in an attempt to answer the question 'What can be done to protect the UK's rare fauna and flora?'.

Status: In production
Director: Stuart Spray
Writer: Stuart Spray and Kevin Duffy
Contact: Stuart Spray mail@sharkbaitproductions.co.uk
Release date: 2011
Genre: Documentary

At the CLA (County Land and Business Association) Game Fair in 2008 the RSPB announced a 40 per cent increase in reported crimes against birds of prey in the UK.

RSPB species officer Jeff Knott told the BBC 'The key thing is that people are still attacking (raptors) very commonly across some areas of the uplands, particularly on areas of land managed as driven grouse moors and this really has to be unacceptable in any modern society.'

In response a spokesman for the National Gamekeepers Organisation commented 'There is a prospect of real progress being made on the raptor issue, so it's extremely disappointing when we see some of the old entrenched rhetoric being trundled out. We're never going to solve these issues while the media is being fed inflammatory storylines. The RSPB is a huge organisation and, like a supertanker, it takes time to change course - we'll just have to hope the cool heads in the charity don't sacrifice the prospect of real progress for the sake of a few soundbites.'

So what is really going on? Is raptor persecution still rife across the UK's sporting estates or is the problem being blown out of proportion? And what is the way forward for raptor conservation in the UK?

Stuart Spray and Kevin Duffy take an uncompromising look at the issue of raptor persecution in the UK, with no holds barred interviews with members of the Scottish Raptor Study Groups, conservationists, landowners and gamekeepers.

Status: In production
Director: Stuart Spray
Writer: Stuart Spray
Contact: Stuart Spray mail@sharkbaitproductions.co.uk
Release date: 2010
Genre: Documentary

Most British bats have evolved to roost in trees. Features such as rot holes, cracks, flaking bark and old wood pecker holes can all be suitable for roosting bats.

Unfortunately, our mature trees and the wildlife they support have for many years been under threat from misunderstanding and poor management. Many trees, thought to be dying or dangerous, continue to be unnecessarily felled or damaged by inappropriate tree surgery. It is not known how many bat roosts are lost each year as a result of this type management.

Recent changes to UK legislation now require landowners to carry out a bat survey for roosts prior to tree surgery taking place. However, surveys are often carried out at the last minute by untrained personnel using flawed methodology resulting in bat roosts being missed and often destroyed.

In this short documentry produced in partnership with Solway Heritage, Stuart Spray takes a look at trees and their importance for roosting bats in the UK and asks the question 'Is current legislation designed to protect bats and their roosts doing the job?'.

Status: In production
Director: Stuart Spray
Composer : Sarah Berker, Solway Sinfonia
Contact: Stuart Spray mail@sharkbaitproductions.co.uk
Release date: Summer 2010
Genre: Music video

Footage of wild geese on the Solway coast to accompany the Caerlaverock Suite originally composed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve.