Hunters report killing 2,200 birds
‘Asking too much of hunters’
Hunters reported having shot only 1,842 turtle doves and 366 quails during the spring hunting season which opened on April 13 and closed last Saturday.
The figures were released by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority yesterday and although hunters have said this year was one of the worst in terms of migration, doubts have been raised on the real numbers reported by hunters.
Hunters were obliged to send an SMS every time they shot a bird apart from recording the kill in the official carnet de chasse document.
They were allowed to shoot 9,000 turtle doves and 2,500 quails. Hunters also had individual bag limits of one bird per day and a maximum of four in the whole season.
However, at least one hunter writing in The Times last Saturday questioned the practicality of the reporting mechanism and the individual bag limits.
While defending the seasonal limit, Henry Fenech Azzopardi said hunters had to endure the frustration of registering the bird caught.
“Who in his right frame of mind would declare a bird caught, say, at 6 a.m., knowing he has to then pack up and leave? Who would record the fourth bird knowing that his season is over?”
This situation, he wrote, gave rise to abuse because it reduced “the thrill of the catch” to “a frightening sensation”.
He also urged the authorities to go through the records of the time the SMSs were sent to “perhaps realise” they were asking too much of hunters.
In its brief statement yesterday Mepa gave no indication of the times of day or when the SMSs were sent.
This year, about 5,600 hunters applied for the special spring hunting licence.