Joe Perici Calascione says the hunter's federation is ready to crack down on the few black sheep in its midst, but their language remains ambivalent at best.

A light-hearted thread now accompanies the more angry ones on the hunter federation's website forum. It pokes fun at the recent spate of shock reports of illegal hunting on protected species, asking whether hunters will now be blamed for Thursday's plane crash as well.

"Perhaps the woman who found the spotted eagle, will take the plane to The Times too," one of the members asks, referring to the rare eagle found shot by a woman in Birzebbuga a few days ago. It sums up the mood within the hunting community. The hunters now feel hounded.

They have been for some years now but Mr Perici Calascione, the federation's second-in-command, says the situation is "very tense" at the moment. "It goes back to March 2006. Until then we had a platform, which was semi-acceptable, if not more than semi-acceptable. But the hasty manner in which the government transposed the Birds' Directive under threat from the EU now makes our lives impossible.

"As members of Face (the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of Europe) we cannot go against the Birds' Directive. The idea that we want no regulation is rubbish, but we want honest and legitimate hunters to be able to practise their sport without any hassle."

At the moment, he insists, there are too many unclear regulations that complicate their life unnecessarily. But what is really getting at them is public opinion.

"With all due respect to the media and the population in general, there's this perception that hunters are all macho bullies who think they are above the law. Even the police look at us in this negative way even though, to be fair to the devil, there has been an improvement recently. But the point is that it is only a very small minority that acts irresponsibly.

"I can say, hand on heart, that I've never seen a season like this. I was in Gozo and I've never seen so many marsh harriers and other protected species, without a single shot being fired at them.

"Usually, in a large area, out of 100 hunters or so you'll always get some bully, who'll fire a shot. I didn't see one protected bird being shot. I'm not saying there wasn't, because I heard of incidents and went on the spot to speak to these people because, obviously, these people do more damage to our reputation than BirdLife or the media ever could.

"There are a few people who don't want to understand that times have changed and that things are now more serious and regulated, but there has been a great improvement."

By his own account, however, that small minority isn't really that small. "I'd say five per cent of active hunters still have to come round," he says candidly which means that, conservatively speaking, about 600 hunters may be practising their sport outside the legal limit (there are about 12,000 licensed hunters in Malta).

More importantly, however, the federation's consistent denial of illegal hunting cases seems to fly in the face of its stated goal to reign the black sheep.

Besides denying every single incident of protected species being reported by conservationists, the federation secretary Lino Farrugia (in whose stead Mr Perici Calascione stepped in for the interview) has taken to polarise the issue along xenophobic lines, constantly highlighting the Turkish nationality of BirdLife's head in Malta, for instance, and calling on hunters to beware of the "spying foreigners" in reference to foreign ornithologists and birdwatchers here for a few weeks.

Doesn't this stoke the fires and fuel the arrogance of the "bullies"?

"If you look at it from a layman's point of view without having lived this issue over the past 10 years, it may be understandable for you to see things this way but when you go through years of slander, where even hunters abroad for a while had a picture portraying us as savages who shoot at everything that flies, you would see things differently."

Live birds being shown to the press shortly after being shot is hardly slanderous though. It is damning but reality. Yet, on this point, Mr Perici Calascione insists on his line.

"We had asked that when such a bird is found we are called over to see with our own eyes and it only happened once. We had reports, in the past, of photos being touched up for effect."

The one time the hunters were called in, though, they accepted the species had gunshot wounds.

"If, say, a marsh harrier or a protected species is shot, it's wrong and we condemn it. In fact, in our recent press conference we stressed that the federation will be taking action against this sort of thing.

"If I see someone shoot a protected bird I would report that person. That is the philosophy the federation will be adopting," he says, but when asked whether the federation has so far reported any hunter, the answer is a flat no.

"We're also going to take measures to expel members caught committing serious illegal infringements, specifically when it comes to shooting on protected species."

Yet, the self-regulation proposals submitted to the government would have marshals - members of the federation - report illegal hunting to an internal committee but not necessarily the police.

"I don't exclude it (reporting illegal hunting to the police) completely, but you have to remember that if a hunter is expelled from an association he will not be able to renew his licence."

Given the level of trust this system would require from the public, why not be decisive about reporting illegal hunting to the police?

"We tried to implement that system but found difficulties... Hunters find it hard to report fellow hunters to the police, even though some already do through the anonymous police line."

But, in a nutshell, the system would never ensure hunters who break the law get what they deserve.

"It depends on the case, I think. If someone shoots a protected species I think that person should be penalised by both the police and the law. But if a hunter is found to have breached the federation's statute then we will be able to take action, which means, given today's regulations, that we would not sign up for the person to get the licence."

The question remains hanging, however: Why should the public trust hunters to mete out justice to their erring mates if they are not prepared to report them to the police?

"I understand the scepticism but legal hunting takes place all round the world. The minute hunters have a clear, fair legal sphere within which to practise their sport without hassle, which is what we're asking for, they will have every interest to defend that right."