Ornis committee meets, no decision on Spring hunting

The Ornis Committee today refrained from making any recommendations on the opening of the Spring hunting season this year, BirdLife Malta said.

It said that at a meeting this afternoon, its representatives on the committee referred to remarks by EU Commissioner Stavros Dimas on February 26 where he said that: "the Commission would again apply to the Court for interim measures should Malta permit the hunting of birds during the spring period in 2009."

BirdLife Malta President Joseph Mangion said BirdLife expected the Prime Minister to respect EU law and not put Malta in another embarrassing position where the court might again apply an interim measure to stop spring hunting.

"It is now time to focus on illegal hunting and provide the ALE with much needed resources as we have already started to receive reports of illegal hunting."

BirdLife said Spring hunting is banned in the EU under the Birds Directive to protect birds from being shot just before the breeding season. The European Commission took Malta to the European Court of Justice in January 2008 for opening the spring hunting season every year since Malta joined the EU. An interim measure was imposed on Malta to prevent the 2008 spring season opening.

The hunters' federation (FKNK) in a statement yesterday called on the government to keep its promises and exercise a strong political to restore "traditional" hunting and trapping in the Maltese Islands.