Bird hunting still rampant despite harsher penalties

The Rural Affairs and Environment Ministry yesterday appealed to hunters to consider the harm that abuse of the hunting regulations could have on their pastime.

In a statement, the ministry said that last week the police and the Armed Forces of Malta had met to discuss how to control abuse of the regulations, including the shooting down of birds of prey. Two flamingoes were shot at Marsaxlokk Bay on Thursday.

The police and the AFM are acting on advice passed on to them by the Ornis committee which includes representatives from BirdLife and the Federazzjoni Kaccaturi u Nassaba Konservazzjonisti.

Reacting to comments made on Friday by BirdLife on the rampant killing of protected species, the ministry said that the current hunting regulations were an improvement on the previous regulations.

Fines going up to Lm2,000, jail sentences of up to two years and the confiscation of guns were tougher than the former penalties, it said.

It was only through the framework of the new regulations that a list of specially protected species could be drawn up, the ministry said.

On Friday, BirdLife had commented that the illegal killing of protected birds was rampant and was taking place even before the hunting season opened.

"It is clear that there is no political will to deal with the matter," it added.

BirdLife warned the authorities that failure to live up to the commitments made with the EU could spell big problems for Malta.

"Malta made a commitment with the EU to enforce bird protection laws. We need a proper long-term strategy for law enforcement and for adequate resources to be directed without delay to solve this issue," BirdLife had argued.

While commending the prompt action taken by the ALE and Mepa staff that led to the arrest of some individuals following the shooting of the flamingoes, BirdLife said that the illegal hunting problem was "clearly beyond the control of the under-staffed ALE team".

"Despite the commendable efforts of this section, illegal hunting is largely unchecked in Malta, especially in Gozo, where enforcement is practically non-existent. The ALE is too small and ill-equipped to deal with illegal hunting," BirdLife had noted.

The ministry replied that the government was fully committed to bring those who broke the law to book, however, the co-operation of everyone was required to curb abuse "because it is impossible to have soldiers and policemen at every corner of the countryside and the sea shore".