6,000 hunters apply for spring hunting licence
Some 6,000 hunters have applied for a licence to hunt in the three-week spring hunting season which opens on April 13. Applications closed this afternoon.
The special licence cost €50, with the proceeds going towards law enforcement.
Each hunter is allowed to shoot one bird per day for a maximum of four in a season. Hunters are obliged to record their catches in the official carnet de chasse document and by SMS.
The season may be closed before April 30 if the national bag limit for the two species is reached. If the limit for one species only is reached, the season will close for that species alone.Hunting will not be allowed on Sundays and public holidays.
The bag limits for this year’s spring season are below the maximum numbers established in the framework legislation agreed to with the European Commission. According to the legislation a maximum of 11,000 turtledoves and 5,000 quails can be shot in spring.
Earlier today the German bird watchers' organisation CABS said it would send a team to Malta to monitor hunting and report any law-breaking (see separate story).
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110405/local/cabs-to-monitor-malta-spring-hunting
Popular Stories
Update 3: Marsa murder - Police looking...
Update 2: Three arrests after flamingo...
Former Judge Ray Pace found dead
Where’s Everybody staff is given notice
Revealed...the face of a Maltese woman...
Update 4 - Eddie Fenech Adami stable...
Update 3 - Woman trapped as car crashes...
Updated - Two bodies, capsized boat,...
Franco Mercieca doing routine eye ops at...
In Discussion
Update 2: Three arrests after flamingo...
Enemalta seeking minimum five year gas...
Mario de Marco, Zammit Dimech concede,...
Chinese company to study Malta-Gozo...
Updated - PM reacts to Labour anger on...
Franco Mercieca doing routine eye ops at...
No appeals board for first part of power...
Updated - PM comments as Franco Mercieca...
BBC site highlights illegal hunting in Malta
12 Comments
Post comment
Please sign in or create your Account to post comments.
J.Agius
Apr 6th 2011, 08:49
16000 hunters in Malta! A hobby practised by millions around the world.(exept Tiny Malta).Previous Prime Ministers have taken the hunters for a bus ride! Now a Plane Ride.Next a promise to go hunting on the moon.100 euros intead of 50.
OK antihunting have their rights good. But hunters have the media against them!No not in Iran!!! The majority are law abiding hunters.They can catch 1+1 & go home.No Saturday or Sunday.You can skip work during the week.Or swallow more Valium.Who cares!!!Hunters are in the minority!!
Stop Press !! As the wardens booked far too many motorists the government is to bring foreign wardens (Cabs!)to monitor the Situation.Perhaps stopping the cars from being used Sat.&Sun!!Not fair as bad Drivers are in the minority.OOps we are Democratic European Malta!!! Hunters on Week-ends can take their dogs for a walk on Tower Rd & the beach below instead.At least dogs dont mess the country!!& both Tower Rd & the rock are full of Dog s---.
J.Agius
J.Agius
l fenech
Apr 6th 2011, 08:34
Prosit. Kien hawn min qed jahseb li ser taqtaw qalbkom.
Carmel Cilia
Apr 6th 2011, 08:32
Before the German organisation CAB comes over here to interfere with our internal policies it should do us a favour and tells its government and the rest of Europe to make away with all their nuclear power stations. They come here to defend a bird but at the same time put at risk our children through nuclear contamination.
we surely are being made to pay a high cost for our electrcity they on the other side are making us risk our lives just for them to have cheap electric power.
I say the hunters should unite and not allow these foreigners to interfere with our internal questions.
Shame on birdlife and these cheap maltese puppets who always seek the help of foreigners in local questions. These people should be followed and booed all day long(no physical harm whatsoever) just to show them that they are not welcomed in our island.
Carmel Cilia
Apr 6th 2011, 08:10
Il kacca mhux talli ma tispiccax izda ghanda tmur ghal ahjar' Il-Weghda ta Eddie Fenech Adami Prim ministru qabel ivvutajnnma ghar referendum tad Dhul fl-Unjon Ewropea. Kull kumment iehor huwa zejjed.
Henry Fenech Azzopardi
Apr 5th 2011, 23:12
WITH A SIMPLE MATHEMATICAL EQUATION THE BAG LIMIT PER HUNTER SHOULD BE DOUBLED AND EACH BIRD WILL COST LESS, ALTHOUGH STILL VERY EXPENSIVE.
GOOD LUCK FOLKS.
R.Caruana
Apr 6th 2011, 08:30
This 'hobby' will die a natural death. Already half or more of the Hunters did not apply, this is a very good sign. Please conserve what's left of prisitine countryside!
Johnny Xerri
Apr 6th 2011, 15:50
R Caruana, The amount of hunters has not decreased by actually increased...just ask for the official data from police records and you will be set straight. The amount of hunters that applied for this special licence shows those that are wealthy enough to pay €50 for the possibility of catching 4 birds...if shared equally 2 birds. But for the record their are 10,698 hunters and around 4500 trappers...who come next autumn (for which no special licence and no extra payment is required) will be hunting and trapping with or without your concent.
C. Abela
Apr 5th 2011, 23:12
Yes it does come at a very high cost. I'm not referring to the €50 but the life of the poor birds you shoot who won't live to mate, breed or feed their young.
Carmel Dimech
Apr 5th 2011, 22:21
So 6000 Hunters can catch 16000 birds (11000 + 5000). If you divide 16000 by 6000 the answer will be 2.6666. 50 EUROS for 2.6 birds The Joke of the year.
MARIO SALNITRO
Apr 6th 2011, 08:40
HUNTING IS A WAY OF LIFE YOU JUST CANNOT UNDERSTAND IT .
IT MIGHT BE A JOKE TO YOU , BUT DEFINITELY NO JOKE TO US, SO AS LONG AS YOU ARE HAPPY ENJOY YOUR JOKE WHILE WE ENJOY OUR LEGAL PASSION HAVE A GREAT DAY .
A LA FACCIA DI CHI CI VUOLE MALE.
Henry Fenech Azzopardi
Apr 6th 2011, 08:45
You have a small mistake in your calculation. The total bag is not 11,000 + 5,000 but 9,000 + 2,500. so 11,500 divided by 6 000 gives you 1.91. so it is now a bigger joke.
But hunting is not just the taking of the bird. Most of the days we do not fire our gun and we still go out hoping that maybe we catch 1.91 birds. It is the social aspect of it all that apart from the first couple of hours at dawn we then group together and exchange views and old time stories when we were more free to roam about and the countryside, which is now ruined by speculators.
One tends to criticise our limitations of hunting and ignore the jungles of concrete structures we are living in.
Just take a short drive from San Gwann to Ibragg via Swieqi This part of Malta used to be called trejqiet il gamiem. They should change the name to trejqiet il krejnijiet or concret mixers. God know the millions of euros that has changed hands in this part of Malta only.
Maybe now doves will breed in room ventilators instead of their original habitat.
r sammut
Apr 5th 2011, 21:00
Beggars cannot be choosers! Which ever way you look at it, this season’s opening is certainly no bed of roses! Apart from the miserable bag limit and restrictions; all come at a very high cost!?! Those not into the ‘namra’ look weird at this, because they do not understand the feeling. But looking on the numbers of applications it goes on to show the keenness of the hunting community to relive, even this drastically reduced Spring opening!
Please choose the reason of your report below: