The Hunters' Federation (FKNK) today denied that there is poor law enforcement of the open season for hunting.  

Reacting to complaints by the NGO about poor enforcement during the open season, the FKNK said the number of police officers of the ALE unit had been increased substantially; the police cavalry had been engaged; and soldiers had also been deployed.

"Never has Malta witnessed such security measures since the time of the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in 2005 also marked by the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth. Since the opening of the hunting season on September 1, around 1,800 spot checks on hunters in the field have been carried out," the federation said.

"Yet, BirdLife Malta (BLM), in total disrespect of the local authorities, has been reported as stating that “it had not seen the increased policing in the countryside promised by the government..” and, without producing a single shred of evidence, photographs or videos, still maintain that protected birds are being targeted."

The federation said it was happy to report that it had received several reports of good influxes of migrating protected bird species, from raptors to herons and others over the Maltese islands, which had safely continued on their south-westerly flights.

The FKNK applauded its members for attaining this scenario and encouraged them to keep it up.