THE first structured management scheme to compensate farmers for losses caused by protected white-tailed sea eagles killing their lambs is set to be introduced on Mull.

Although farmers have been awarded payments to cover some of their losses over the last two years, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Government's conservation agency, has now put forward recommendations for a formal payment system to the Scottish Office.

While the exact number of lambs lost to predation is difficult to verify, some estimates suggest that up to 400 lambs have been lost in one season.

The white-tailed sea eagle, which had come close to extinction, was reintroduced to the area under a special SNH programme and numbers on Mull have now reached about 19 or 20.

Mr John Thomson, SNH Director of Operations East, said SNH was keen to build into any package for farmers a requirement that farmers help SNH gather more information about the birds and their behaviour.

He said white-tailed sea eagles were primarily fish eaters: ''The ones on Mull do eat a certain amount of fish and sea-birds. I am not sure if there are enough fish around for them. They are probably pretty opportunistic feeders.

''We want to discourage the eagles from behaving the way they have been, not just because of the impact on farmers and the loss of lambs, but because they are wild creatures which ought to be eating something other than lambs.''

Mr Thomson added that SNH was keen to develop the sea-eagles as a tourism resource along similar lines to the red kite operation in Wales and the peregrine watch in the Trossachs.

However, Mr Euan Warnock, area secretary for the National Farmers' Union of Scotland in North Argyll, said sheep farmers on Mull faced some of the most difficult conditions anywhere in Scotland and losses during the lambing season were higher than average even without predation problems.

He said: ''SNH has proposed a management scheme but we have not been asked to comment on it.

''We would like it to have a commonsense approach to the management of the birds and encourage farmers to work alongside the organisation for the well-being of the environment, not just for the birds, because these birds are having a pretty drastic effect on the environment.''

Mr Warnock added: ''Mull farmers have lived with the golden eagle for centuries and it has not been a problem for them, but these white-tailed sea eagles have. We need research on the impact of the sea eagles on other species.''

q SNH has declared the barnacle goose population on Islay to have reached a safe, viable level.

The finding means SNH, after spending years protecting the species and paying farmers compensation for not shooting the flocks that arrive each winter and feed on their crops, will now have to find an acceptable means of controlling their numbers.

Any measures will have to be negotiated with the Government and the EU Commission because the geese are protected under UK and European law. The issue is likely to be high on the agenda at the second meeting of the National Goose Forum next week.

The Greenland white-fronted goose population, which also winters on Islay in large numbers, is not yet considered secure.