As the general election draws closer, the Federazzjoni Kaċċaturi, Nassaba u Konservazzjonisti (FKNK) has stepped up its pressure on the Ornis committee, saying it will be keeping its thousands of members informed about every decision and position taken about the future of hunting and trapping on the island.

In a letter dated January 14 to the chairman of the Ornis committee, the hunters' federation proposed a number of changes to the regulations on hunting and trapping.

The Ornis committee is a consultative body that advises the government on issues relating to hunting, trapping and bird protection.

The federation said yesterday it has not yet received any reply to its proposals.

Federation public relations officer Joe Perici Calascione and president Joseph Buttigieg concluded the letter thus: "As chairman of the Ornis committee, we hope you understand that before the majority of these suggestions are passed by the Ornis committee to the minister, it will be difficult for us to discuss other matters on the committee's agenda because whatever has been done by this committee has been detrimental to the practice of traditional hunting and trapping.

"Now that we are close to a general election, as FKNK has always done, it will keep its thousands of members informed about every position and decision taken with regard to the future of hunting and trapping so that everyone remains accountable for the position or decision which would have been taken."

Among other proposals, the federation wants its members to be allowed to catch their prey closer to habitable areas by proposing that the 200-metre limit for hunting in residential areas be reduced to 100 metres, on grounds that "the country is getting smaller".

The federation is also asking the Ornis committee to stop the moratorium on new licences for trappers on January 1, 2009. The moratorium was introduced in August 2002.

It wants the removal of a licence to operate as a taxidermist for personal use and suggests that birds which are unprotected in their country of origin could be stuffed.

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