BirdLife Malta boycotted yesterday’s meeting of the government’s hunting consultative body, accusing it of being “nothing more than a government-created smokescreen”.
The Ornis committee met to agree on a recommendation for the opening of a spring hunting season this year. The recommendation is not made public and the final decision still rests with government.
The meeting came 24 hours after the publication of a legal notice to change the framework established last year. It allows spring hunting for a maximum of 5,000 quails and 11,000 turtle doves or one per cent of the annual mortality rate for each species, whichever is higher. However, these bag limits are also dependant on the number of quails and turtle doves shot in the autumn, the quota being 20,000 quails and 21,000 turtledoves.
While the government may have wanted to close the spring hunting issue once and for all with the legal notice, it has not managed to shut the door on a torrent of criticism.
Hunters have slammed the new limit, which they say is scientifically flawed, while BirdLife has criticised the legal notice for doing away with the cap on the number of hunters allowed to shoot in spring.
Last year spring hunting was only permitted for 2,500 hunters from a community of over 10,000 licensed hunters. BirdLife also hit out at the government’s decision to amend Malta’s spring hunting framework legislation twice in a matter of weeks without Ornis Committee members even being aware that the legislation had been drafted. “BirdLife Malta refuses to be part of today’s (yesterday’s) powerless meeting which will be doing nothing more than rubber stamping what the government has already decided,” said Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta President and Ornis Committee member.
He said the changes in the framework legislation came after the EU Commission last October renewed legal action against Malta for the first draft of the spring hunting regulations published last year. The European Court of Justice case decided in 2009 left the door ajar for spring hunting. However, Mr Mangion noted that the government argued at the time that some 15,000 hunters and trappers could only hunt around 5,000 quails and 4,000 turtledoves during the whole autumn hunting season despite admissions of the hunting lobby that the actual number of birds shot was many times higher.
He accused the government of playing a game by setting up a small spring hunting bag limit with the hope of not prompting another court case, while giving the hunting lobby another spring hunting season.
“No one should pay any attention to the statements of ‘dissatisfaction’ by the hunting lobby as they, like everyone else, know that once the season is open it is impossible to monitor how many birds they will be killing,” Mr Mangion said.
Framework legislation
Last year government published a legal notice to show how it intended to allow spring hunting to occur in future years. However, the provisions of the law were not applied because government entered into discussions with the EU Commission to determine whether the framework was acceptable.
The framework was changed two days ago. The new regulations stipulate that spring hunting will be allowed for a maximum of 5,000 quails and 11,000 turtledoves. However, the maximum quota can only be reached if hunters shoot less than 10,000 birds of each species in autumn. Every bird killed in autumn above the 10,000 mark will contribute to a reduction in the maximum limit for spring. If more than 20,000 quails and 21,000 turtledoves are shot in autumn no spring hunting will be allowed.
Each year the Ornis Committee would have to issue a recommendation on when and whether the spring hunting season could take place.
After every spring hunting season government would still have to justify its decision with Brussels.