Paul Shave (September 7) should thank Birdlife Malta concerning the disproportionate publicity on wild-bird hunting.

The Maltese Government needlessly announces to the world, and always at an unwittingly sensational eleventh hour, the beginning of a new hunting season. In the other EU states, the seasons have long been determined once and for all, without fanfare.

The Scottish conservationist confirms that birds belong also to shooters and trappers, which makes hunters entitled to their share. The Maltese economy does not depend on birds but on the working people who sustain it, whose recreational requirements are as essential as their bread and butter.

All EU member states allow an “annual onslaught on wild birds” during the seasons. Migrating birds are killed in millions: geese and ducks in Scotland, skylarks and song thrushes in Spain, France and Italy.

Mr Shave’s holiday destination’s share in this “onslaught” is minimal by contrast. That Maltese hunting is “an international public relations issue” exists only in his imagination.

The European Commission has no reason to bring “infraction proceedings”. However, BLM keeps pestering it, using flimsy pretexts as contained in reports to the Commission on spring hunting.

“Forget derogations”, the correspondent adds, forgetting that Britain applies over 1,400 derogations annually connected with shooting alone. Contrastingly, Malta never applied more than four derogations on hunting.

On clay pigeon shooting, the writer should know that clay pigeons cannot be hunted, retrieved, plucked, cooked and eaten. John Lister-Kaye’s comments on Malta in 2004 are now outdated.

Finally, Mr Shave writes: “If Malta were to protect wild birds...” Obviously, he is unaware that Malta already does. The fact is that the newspapers do not report this.

That does not make headline news. What does make the headlines, however, is every breach of the protection laws. BLM makes sure that even the slightest breach is reported, particularly by this newspaper. Shame!