It has been accepted that although there were illegalities during the spring hunting season, they were far fewer than the numbers reported last season. Moreover, last season was already a great improvement over theone before it.

With the penalties going beyond any comparison and with the help of law-abiding hunters, the number of illegalities has been very minimal, almost negligible.

There were still some illegalities taking place and I condemn such malpractice.

Even with the season closed, there is still the one-off who does not know any better.

The question is, why penalise me for the wrongdoing of others? The number of cases reported can be counted on one hand and, because of these incidents, the government decided to stop 10,000 hunters from exercising the right given to them by the referendum.

The expression “last chance” means no future for spring hunting. This is unacceptable because the people have spoken and democracy has to be respected.

The result of the referendum goes beyond what Joseph Muscat said – the “last chance” does not in any way imply that the result of the referendum is to be written off.

Muscat sent the wrong message: that there is no need of any future referenda – just find a poacher, give him a drink, shoot down a protected bird and the season is closed. End of the story.