Hunters shoot down 'package'

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation yesterday shot down the "package" on hunting and trapping that it said had been negotiated with the European Union, saying it would permit fewer species to be shot or trapped in spring and would place a temporary moratorium on new trapping licences.

The federation said the moratorium was a plan to gradually eliminate trapping. It told members to immediately apply for a licence, in what it said was a first directive.

In reply, the government said it had managed to reach agreement on a common position with the European Commission, but this still had to be discussed and approved by the 15 member states next month. Therefore, the negotiations had still not been closed.

The government defended the common position, arguing it would guarantee that the tradition of hunting and trapping would remain alive and sustainable.

Federation secretary Lino Farrugia yesterday addressed a news conference in the presence of several federation district officials.

He said that on July 31, the federation met Foreign Minister Joe Borg, Parliamentary Secretary George Pullicino, Mr Pullicino's consultant Saviour Balzan and chief negotiator Richard Cachia Caruana.

The government representatives had explained the "package" which, according to them, the government had managed to obtain for Maltese and Gozitan hunters and trappers in negotiations on the environment chapter.

According to what had been explained, he said, the present spring hunting season would be retained, but hunting would only be allowed for turtle dove and quail. Trapping in spring would continue to be allowed but only for seven songbird species, turtle dove, quail and golden plover.

The federation had also been told that no new licences for trapping would be issued until 2007, except for the number of licenses made available when trappers died.

The package, they had been told, would be regulated by an executive government entity on which the federation would be represented. The entity would be known as the Ornis Committee similar to the Ornis Committee of the EU which presently regulates the Birds Directive.

Mr Farrugia called on the government to set up this committee with immediate effect, and not after accession.

He said that in order to obtain this package and the necessary derogations, the government had used the Birds Directive.

This, however, was a right of every member state and the government's statement that it would be adopting this approach had weakened its hand in the negotiations.

The federation had asked the government to demand a pre-accession condition that would have allowed it not to adopt the Birds Directive. This concession had been granted to Greenland.

The federation had suggested a realistic way of how not to adopt the directive, by changing two words in the preamble - an approach used for Greenland.

"Our proposal would not have set a precedent," Mr Farrugia said.

He recalled that the PN had declared that representatives of hunters and trappers would partner the government during the negotiations.

Indeed, in the initial stages the federation had been given the impression that it was being consulted.

But its suspicion that it was being left in the dark during crucial stages of the negotiations had been confirmed at the meeting with government officials.

Accusing the government of arrogance, Mr Farrugia said: "We are not only insulted that we were not involved in the negotiations as originally promised but we also feel offended and irritated because the tools and assistance we repeatedly offered were ignored.

"We are the only experts in the matter and the only people with the experience and genuine interest.

"Even though we are sure that ministers, MPs and the Nationalist media will try to picture the government's 'package' as keeping everything as it is, the truth is that things will have to change to the detriment of the thousands of hunters and trappers."

If the package were to come into effect, he said, it would mean that the Nationalist Party would have gone against its electoral pledges in two successive administrations.

"We have never been politicians, and perhaps this is why we cannot understand what leads politicians to take certain steps. On the other hand, it seems that politicians are still incapable of understanding the passion that hunters and trappers feel for this tradition."

Mr Farrugia said that a few hours before the news conference they had received a letter from Mr Cachia Caruana which needed to be studied before formulating a position.

He called for the unity that existed between hunters and trappers to be strengthened: "Hunters should keep in mind that the serious threat to trapping could easily reach them."

He told members to expect "more directives and news" to ensure that hunting and trapping would not be touched by any Maltese, "let alone by the EU".

Mr Farrugia announced that in the light of the coming referendum and election, the federation would be publishing its demands for the attention of the two political parties.

At the end of the news conference, he received loud applause when he said that the situation was "not their problem but the problem of the EU".

In its statement, the government said that through the negotiations it was guaranteeing the future of hunting and trapping.

Contrary to what had been stated, the negotiations had not yet been concluded. The government had managed to reach an agreement on a common position with the European Commission, and the position would be discussed and approved by the 15 member states next month.

According to the common position, Malta had been granted a special exemption that would allow the hunting of turtle dove and quail to continue between March 25 and May 21.

All the birds listed in the hunting regulations would be kept.

And every other hunting activity would continue to be permitted, including hunting at sea three kilometres away from the shore.

The government said that all trappers - who number over 4,500 - licensed as of July 31, 2002, would continue to be able to trap seven species of songbird, among other species.

The position paper gave Malta until December 2002 to draw up a scientific paper assessing the number of finches that can be trapped sustainably, and the hunters' federation would be represented on the committee.

The government argued it was ensuring that hunting and trapping would remain alive and sustainable in the long term, and that it was safeguarding the interests of hunters and trappers.

Sources close to the government said the common position meant that the PN's electoral promise would be kept and that hunting and trapping would continue to be practised in spring.

However, the sources said that the government was making it clear that there was no room for illegal hunting.

"The inclusion of spring hunting and trapping in the position is unique in the sense that the commission has accepted to tolerate this traditional activity in no other member or candidate country.

"Nowhere in Europe is spring hunting and trapping accepted as a precondition by the commission.

"This is a big achievement for the Maltese government."