In the case on spring hunting, which the European Commission instituted against Malta, the European Court of Justice ruled in 2009 that since the hunting period when the quail’s and the turtle dove’s appearance, if any, only lasted for a very brief period during the autumn hunting season, it did not provide enough opportunities for local hunters as a satisfactory alternative solution to hunting in spring.

Thus, Malta could apply a derogation under the EU Birds Directive to permit a very brief and limited hunting season for just quail and turtle dove in spring, when only small numbers can be taken under strictly-supervised conditions. Malta has adhered to these conditions every year since 2010.

As a hunting and trapping expert appointee on the Ornis Committee at the time, I can still vividly recall the hunters’ federation representatives proposing a much shorter autumn hunting season (at present from September 1 to January 31) for the quail and the turtle dove because of the actual occurrence of the birds at that time over the Maltese islands.

They rightfully argued that one may be permitted to swim throughout the entire year however it is only the courageous few who do so outside the months of June to September.

They further claimed that, eventually, those against would maintain that, since the hunters have a full five-month period during which they can hunt the quail and the turtle dove, why then should they bother with 20 half days in spring?

How right the federation’s representatives were in their predictions.

Today, we have a small group of radicals who want to abolish the tradition of legal spring hunting for just the quail and the turtle dove, deceitfully alleging that the hunters have five months to hunt the birds in question.