Mark Mifsud Bonnici, secretary, St Hubert Hunters, Mosta
BirdLife and unfounded allegations
In the letter Unfounded Allegations About BirdLife (November 4), Joseph Mangion, in his attempt to "set the record straight" regarding unfounded allegations, rambled on as to whether the fact that BirdLife agreed to the government's derogating for spring hunting is fact or fiction. In reality, whether BirdLife Malta did, does not or ever will agree, is of no importance and certainly has no bearing on whether Malta could derogate or not.
The right of a member state to derogate is evaluated by the European Commission based on the state's specific circumstances and is judged on a case by case basis.
In the case of Malta, where the use of derogation was made perfectly clear before accession, the four years where government exercised this right were considered illegal by the European Commission and subsequently Malta ended up before the European Courts of Justice.
The court found fault with the way Malta had applied the derogation in the years 2004 to 2007, however - more importantly - the ECJ ruling established that autumn was not a satisfactory alternative to hunting in spring. Clause 63 declares: "Having regard to those very specific circumstances, hunting for quails and turtle doves during the autumn hunting season cannot be regarded as constituting, in Malta, another satisfactory solution, so that the condition that there be no other satisfactory solution, laid down in Article 9(1) of the Directive, should, in principle, be considered met". This is now a confirmed fact, which neither the Commission nor BirdLife can appeal against.
Contrary to the repetitive allegations by BirdLife Malta that spring hunting was illegal throughout the EU and to its worthless "repeated warnings" again referred to in Mr Mangion's letter, "that Malta could end up at the ECJ for allowing spring hunting" the Maltese government may in future years apply derogations for hunting in spring provided it complies with the conditions stipulated in the Birds Directive. The ECJ was very clear in sorting out fact from BirdLife fiction.
With regard to another repetitive BirdLife's fallacy that the turtle dove and quail are endangered species, the ECJ here again confirms who is unashamedly responsible for "unfounded allegations". Clause 62 says: "It is not apparent from the documents in the case that the population of the two species of bird hunted is below a satisfactory level. It is apparent, in particular, from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species that the species in question are listed in the 'least concern' category." It is here worth noting that the data on which this IUCN category is attested is compiled by no other then BirdLife International of which BirdLife Malta is a partner.
BirdLife International signed an agreement with the EU Hunters Federation (FACE) to respect the ECJ judgment. BirdLife International and BirdLife Malta have already jointly submitted a complaint to the European Commission. BirdLife Malta persists in threatening the Maltese government by resorting to scare-mongering tactics and unfounded allegations about another court case as well as imaginary expenses for the Maltese taxpayers.
BirdLife Malta, its partners and all the foreign abolitionists that annually flock to Malta in support of Birdlife Malta all concur in preventing Malta's government from exercising its acknowledged right to derogate in accordance with the ECJ ruling. It is blatantly obvious that they show no scruples in trying to achieve this.
Contrary to Mr Mangion's conclusion, the European Court of Justice ruling vindicates the position taken up by the hunters' representatives "who have the ability to understand what they read and stick to the facts".
Legitimate birdwatchers in this country could do with leaders of that calibre, instead of having to make do with sworn abolitionists who thrive on unfounded allegations, misinformation and manipulation of fact.
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MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Nov 17th 2009, 15:42
C Finch
If you consider my reply to your comment as a personal insult, I can assure you my intentions are never to insult anyone.
This might not always be the case in your comments. Your feeling insulted only proves that the truth does at times offend.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Nov 17th 2009, 11:09
Wow, V Falzon, your frustration at the ECJ ruling is exposed through your comment! The "bitter pill" has actually been swallowed by the anti-hunting lobby last September, following the ECJ ruling.
Mr MMB, your factual letter has indeed infuriated the anti's. More of the same, please!
HenryFenech Azzopardi
Nov 16th 2009, 23:05
To all those that are against Spring Hunting I highly recommend that you book a far away destination to allows us enjoy in peace the ruling delivered by the EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE. After all Bird Life say they won the case so what is the problem? I can;t wait to see individuals with different T shirts, some say LEGAL SPRING HUUNTING and others say ILLEGAL SPRING HUNTING. This happens only in Malta. For all those who are interested to know, Cyprus asked to be given the same opportunity to open their spring hunting, but unfortunately they were told that Malta's request is covered by a ECJ judgement. How big is tiny Malta !!!! For once be proud to be Maltese and accept that tiny Malta managed to consolidate and walked out of the ECJ with great admiration. I am proud to be Maltese and that is why I am very disturbed when my country is given an international bad image by inflated figures like the Miziep 200 bird slaughter.
V Falzon
Nov 16th 2009, 22:36
Whether autumn is an alternative or not, you bird killers will have to swallow the bitter pill in the end. There is no way the government can apply the derogation with the kind of conditions laid out, and there are four years of botched attempts to prove it, all of which failed miserably, as the ECJ made amply clear.
r sammut
Nov 16th 2009, 20:33
@C Mallia
‘It’s useless speculating and making contro-allegations now’! But is it alright if you yourself are speculating about when the spring is open again??? Constructive letters as above seem to bring much remorse to some people?
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Nov 16th 2009, 19:58
JBorg
Hunting might be in your opinion "as hollow as can be" but then, what is one to say about your arguments against hunting.
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Nov 16th 2009, 19:43
Carmel Gauci
Why not ask all those that cannot tell the difference between a canary and a pigeon but share a common dislike for hunting to answer your question.
Both Birdlife and CABS host these sort under the guise of birdwatchers in their spring and raptor camps. For those without raptor identification skills, Birdlife even go to the extent of offering "a crash course in raptor ID" at the beginning and in the middle of the camp"
Does this, according to your birdwatching experience. make their observations legitimate or them legitimate birdwatchers.
Just in case you haven't realized, legitimate in the context of my letter and this comment stands for "genuine" which I hope you know have the same meaning.
Chris Finch
Nov 16th 2009, 19:07
MMB,
I think the only people fooling themselves here are the hunters who believe that
1. Illegalities are carried out by a minority and 2. that they can be controlled. Oh, and 3, that shooting small birds whilst dressed as rambo and hiding in a brick box can in any way be called hunting.
Its time to get a new hobby.
Oh and if you have to resort to personal insults in order to win an argument, then it just shows a. how limited your intellect is and b. how weak your argument is.
J. Borg
Nov 16th 2009, 17:43
@MMB If your understanding of "sharing the countryside (& birds)" is by - showering families with lead shove them off with rude language and other amicable gestures scare the daylights off them with shotgun blasts and covert a bird into bloodstained feathers then this cultural and social virtue of yours.....is let just say....as hollow as can be.
Edward Camilleri
Nov 16th 2009, 17:29
@Alfred E Zammit - "government must .... exert strict control over hunting activity" And how do you suppose this can be done? Should we dedicate all the police force to help defend this despicable sport you call ‘hunting’? Please keep in mind that when the last spring hunting season was opened, the government sent out some soldiers to monitor the situation, and long and behold the hunting community went berserk!
C Mallia
Nov 16th 2009, 16:43
The hunters have always dug their own grave, and after all these letters against letters in the local newspapers, it will happen again next spring, if hunting would be allowed. Whatever the ECJ decided it also has to be added that the ECJ did insist that in any derogation this would be very strictly conrolled. Time will tell and its useless speculating and making contro-allegations now.
Carmel Gauci
Nov 16th 2009, 16:38
I would very much appreciate it if Mr. Mifsud Bonnici would kindly point out the difference between a legitimate birdwatcher and an illegitimate one. Being a birdwatcher myself I am on edge to know whether I am legitimate or not.
Alfred E. Zammit
Nov 16th 2009, 14:12
Mr Finch,
Please stick to the facts. The ECJ did not rule “that Malta was illegal in opening the spring hunting season”. Malta could, and in fact did, legally open the spring-hunting season. All that the ECJ said was that in the manner it allowed hunting to be practised during the legally-derogated open spring-hunting seasons, Malta failed to abide by the conditions applicable for the annual derogations to be valid. Therefore, you are wrong to say that Malta opened the spring-hunting seasons in 2004/5/6/7 illegally.
For a spring-hunting derogation to be valid, the government must do three things: shorten the 60-day season, impose bag limits, and exert strict control over hunting activity. The hunting organizations will cooperate to make this possible.
As to the fact that the autumn season isn’t enough, you are welcome to your opinion about that being “rubbish”. What counts is that the ECJ considered it of paramount importance, and there is nothing you can do about it!
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Nov 16th 2009, 13:55
ChrisFinch
"the usual rubbish that the autumn season isn't enough" is not rubbish For the European Courts.
Just because you cannot understand English I will repeat what the Court pronounced:
"Having regard to those very specific circumstances, hunting for quails and turtle doves during the autumn hunting season cannot be regarded as constituting, in Malta, another satisfactory solution, so that the condition that there be no other satisfactory solution, laid down in Article 9(1) of the Directive, should, in principle, be considered met"
Article 9 specifies exceptions as to when spring hunting is permitted. "NO OTHER SATISAFCTORY SOLUTION'" happens to be the primary one.
Your reference to imaginary fines and your knowledge of derogation results in comments like the one below. Really all that your are capable of saying is the "usual rubbish" that by now all have become accustomed to.
As you also seem ignorant of why the ECJ ruled the 4 years of derogation illegal, in plain simple English, the ruling states that the 4 seaons as opened by Government were far too long a period.
So do start follwing the news before you decide to make a fool of yourself as always.
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Nov 16th 2009, 13:40
J.Borg
Hunters fill in their "DATA' as do Birdlife Malta. So are we to doubt what the hunters record and believe all that Birdlife want people to believe. The European Courts certainly did not believe Birdlife. Unfortunately that only leaves a few fools to convince who is really saying the truth. Guess who the first one is?
"If Autumn is so miserable, how come gunshots are heard in the morning throughout the countryside? Very simple, the shots you hear are on other species of birds that can be hunted in Autumn. The "no alternative solution" pronounced by the courts concerns turtle dove and quail - ONLY. There are 30 other species that migrate in autumn that according to the Birds directive and with Birdlife Malta's blessing can be hunted. So stop disillusioning yourself. Autumn is there to stay together with spring hunting.
"Europe cherishes diversity......but above all it seeks to promote the health and safety of it citizens.....this includes safe access to clean and fresh countryside air - and this should not be compromised just because of a couple of hundred hunters" Actually its 16,000 hunters and these share the countryside with 400,000 people less YOURSELF.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Nov 16th 2009, 13:34
Very well written and factual, Mr Mark Mifsud Bonnici!
Ms J Borg, I suggest you inform yourself better before you comment. You are mixing lettuce with apples!! The Spring Hunting Season is for turtle-doves and quails WHEREAS the gunshots you mention you are hearing now are for song-thrushes and skylarks. Seeing that you are not even aware of such basic knowledge, makes one wonder whether you can ever be taken seriously!
Antoine Grima
Nov 16th 2009, 12:38
Very well said Mr Bonnici.As always , spot on.
E.portelli
Nov 16th 2009, 12:13
Well said Mark.
I think there is nothing else to add to your article because you highlighted the whole perspective of the problem......ie.....BLM & Company!
Proset Mark and always keep it up.
Chris FInch
Nov 16th 2009, 12:10
One thing that any of the hunting lobbyists have so far failed to mention is if the ECJ ruled that Malta was illegal in opening the spring hunting season over the past few years, how will the derogation be applied so it is not illegal? As far as I can see, nothing has changed. There are far too many illegalities perpetrated by hunters in too small a space.
Come on hunters, tell us how this derogation will be applied, and don't just give us the usual rubbish that the autumn season isn't enough.
Next time a big fine is coming Malta's way, and I for one hope that if it appears, then it is only the hunters that have to pay it through increased licenses.
J. Borg
Nov 16th 2009, 12:02
So in a netshell.....
Autumn is no alternative to Spring claim -
Guess this on the basis of the "data" provided by the individual hunters themselves - something like a driver filling in how many times he overtook.
If Autumn is so miserable, how come gunshots are heard in the morning throughout the countryside? better still - we might as well scrap Autumn hunting and allow the rest of the population & tourists to enjoy the countryside freely and safely.
Rare species or not
In Malta the every bird is rare, partly because of the urbanisation and lack of afforestation (again partly due to the lack of water and arson attacks) - and the rest due to being shot down as soon as they hover within a shotgun's range!
Europe cherishes diversity......but above all it seeks to promote the health and safety of it citizens.....this includes safe access to clean and fresh countryside air - and this should not be compromised just because of a couple of hundred hunters cannot control at best their taste buds and at worse to carry around with shotguns and their lust to kill.
Joe Camilleri
Nov 16th 2009, 11:23
One important thing to mention is that THE VERDICT IS FINAL AND IRREVOCABLE. NO APPEAL CAN BE MADE ON ECJ DECISIONS.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090910/local/european-court-rules-on-spring-hunting-today