No room for larger spring hunting quotas, says Environment Commissioner

Hunters had better not raise their hopes because spring hunting quotas are at their “upper limit”, according to European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik.

Dr Potočnik, in Malta on a two-day visit, said the European Court of Justice decision on spring hunting in Malta was clear, with some spring hunting being allowed but under strict conditions.

“One cannot expect limits to be increased from year to year,” the Slovenian commissioner said.

He said the Commission considered the government’s methodology and quotas as satisfactory adding that the various reports by the hunters’ federation and some NGOs were being examined to see whether there was adequate enforcement and whether the system was reliable enough.

Last spring, over 5,500 hunters out of an estimated 10,000 applied for the special spring hunting licence. Together, they were allowed to shoot up to 9,000 turtle doves and 2,500 quails.

The commissioner’s statement contrasts claims made by Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in April last year when he had said the government was planning to allow a spring hunting season of three weeks this year during which hunters would be able to shoot 22,000 birds in contrast with this year’s week-long term and 7,500-bird limit.

On the Marsa power station, Dr Potočnik said there were two options: either for the plant to be upgraded in line with prevailing standards or else for it to be closed.

“Under the Large Combustion Plants Directive, there is no mechanism for an extension to either the number of operational hours or the dates applicable,” he said.

He said the Commission would evaluate new information on the matter that was sent on August 8 “and we will assess whether the interpretation of Malta regarding the definition of operational hours can be accepted.”

Dr Potočnik met Dr Gonzi and the Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Mario de Marco when the recently-launched National Environmental Policy was discussed. The commissioner said the policy was in line with the Commission’s vision of a holistic approach to the environment.

Dr Potočnik outlined the three major areas of his work: biodiversity, resource efficiency and the implementation of policies.

Resource efficiency, he said, was paramount as world population and resource consumption had multiplied over time and there needed to be “fundamental changes” to consumption patterns. This, he said, would take time but it was necessary for an “irreversible” process in that direction to start.

This, he said, was one of the problems Malta faced as it appeared that the population espoused the opposite of the reuse, reduce and recycle maxim, instead relying heavily on landfill use.