The nominate Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus has experienced dramatic population declines on its northern breeding grounds. The global population is assessed at 18,000–119,000 pairs (BirdLife Finland), compared with 175,000 pairs of the British form graellsii (Wetlands International 2002). Although the species as a whole is not regarded as threatened, nominate fuscus is listed in the Red Data Books of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Russian Karelia, i.e. it is classified as Threatened over its entire current range, falling into the Endangered and Vulnerable categories in the IUCN Red List categories.