I refer to the letter by Nicholas Barbara, Bird-life Malta conservation manager, entitled ‘Unsustainable spring hunting’ (The Sunday Times, February 24).

The spring hunting issue has been resolved. Birdlife can say what it wants but the European Commission accepted that a derogation in spring for the hunting of turtle dove and quail in limited numbers is possible because there is no alternative in autumn.

Mr Barbara should also reconsider the statement that turtle doves are of “conservation concern”. Birdlife International data shows that in Europe there are 3,500,000 to 7,200,000 breeding pairs, which in real terms accounts to almost 21,600,000 individuals.

During autumn, in seven other EU states, two to three million turtle doves are shot annually in the EU, according to the same EU Management Plan referred to by Mr Barbara. Why is the matter of conservation not raised by bird protection societies in all member states and only mentioned by Birdlife for the few turtle doves hunted in Malta?

Mr Barbara also knows that several turtle doves from outside Europe also migrate over Malta. Russia alone has a population of 2,500,000 pairs which equate to 7,500,000 birds, Turkey 2,700,000. It is therefore logical to conclude, obviously not to Birdlife Malta, that the hunting of turtle doves in Malta is not done entirely on birds coming from Europe.

In comparison to other European states that hunt this type of bird in autumn, Maltese hunters, whether in autumn or spring, only hunt an insignificant percentage of birds that migrate over our tiny islands while other European countries are fortunate enough to hunt both the breeding stock and their offspring present in their country.

Mr Barbara also should note that the turtle dove is not only hunted in Europe, far from it. The turtle dove is also hunted in enormous numbers in the Middle East and North Africa. It is also considered to be a pest species in Spain where it is considered to be damaging to agriculture and controlled under derogation outside the autumn season.

Birdlife Malta should apologise for campaigning for an end to hunting in spring.