The controversial spring hunting season will open between April 14 and 30, subject to the result of the referendum, the government announced yesterday, following the recommendation of the Ornis Committee.

The referendum dictating whether hunting in spring may continue in Malta will take place on April 11.

The national hunting bag limit has been established at 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail. Hunters are not to exceed the daily bag limit of two birds and a seasonal bag limit of four birds per hunter.

Eligible licensed hunters must apply for a special spring hunting licence and are legally required to declare every time they go out hunting or upon making a catch before leaving the hunting area.

Hunting will be permitted from two hours before sunrise until 2pm on weekdays and from two hours before sunrise until noon on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

The pro-spring hunting lobby insisted yesterday that the countryside can be shared equally by hunters and other members of the public.

Speaking at the Majjistral Nature Park, spokeswoman Kathleen Grima said the park represented an example of the equal balance that could be achieve.

“While hunting in this public area once took place throughout the day, today it is restricted to the hours before 10am. This is a clear symbol of hunters’ willingness to cooperate to reach a compromise,” she said.

The No campaign has claimed that hunters occupy 77 per cent of the Maltese countryside in spring, and that a No vote would return the countryside to the people.

Dr Grima said the hunting season only took up 20 half days in spring. She also referred to embellishment works carried out by hunters in areas where hunting took place, which she said ultimately benefited both the public and local biodiversity.

She highlighted the fact that illegal hunting incidents had decreased by 71 per cent in 2014. Moreover, of 14 recorded incidents, only four involved protected species: “The referendum is not about illegal hunting or the killing of protected species but about a legal activity practised in Malta by virtue of a derogation that the country is entitled to as an EU member state,” she said.