A video showing a local hunter saving a loggerhead turtle from a fishing line was applauded by the Federation for Hunting and Conservation. 

The FKNK issued a statement congratulating its member Antoine Fenech for having saved the turtle in Delimara Bay, adding that the federation believed conservation "should always be safeguarded nationwide."

But an unidentified man working with Mr Fenech to free the turtle has come in for criticism from Sky News followers, after the news network tweeted video showing the man cut the turtle free - and then promptly dump the fishing line back into the sea. 

As Mr Fenech holds on to the turtle in the water, the second man nimbly loosens fishing line caught around one of its flippers.

Having cut the turtle loose, the man proudly holds up the offending piece of fishing line to the camera, smiles, and then drops it right back into the sea next to the turtle. 

"He removes the line THEN drops it back into the water. Doh" one Twitter user wrote in disbelief. 

Another was more fatalistic. "What it doesn't show is that 10 seconds later the turtle choked to death on the fishing line the man threw back into the water," @DiscoDean7 wrote. 

Fishing line can be deadly for many marine creatures, from turtles to dolphins, tuna and even whales, as well as seabirds.