The spring hunting season will not close early, despite reports of widespread illegalities, Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary Roderick Galdes said yesterday.
Members witnessed only a few illegalities
Mr Galdes also said the Government was not under any pressure from the European Commission to close the season early.
The spring hunting season will officially close on April 30, or earlier if the national quota of 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quails is reached before then.
On Sunday, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS) claimed its members had noted more than 330 contraventions of hunting regulations in three days.
Last Thursday, Birdlife reported that its members had counted more than 9,000 shots in a single morning in eight different locations. It raised doubts about whether the number of SMS reports sent to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority accurately reflected the number of birds shot.
But Mr Galdes said: “The assertion of widespread illegalities could not be corroborated so far.”
He said the Derogation Monitoring Board, which includes representatives from Birdlife and the hunting federation, was meeting regularly and logging irregularities and illegalities.
“Serious cases reported to date have been dealt with firmly and culprits prosecuted,” Mr Galdes said.
These include the arraignment on Sunday of two masked hunters who were caught hunting in the Foresta 2000 nature reserve. One of the hunters was fined €4,685 yesterday, while the other has pleaded not guilty and the case is ongoing (see separate story).
Malta is the only EU country to derogate from the EU Birds Directive to hunt turtle dove and quail in spring. The island applies the derogation on the condition that the spring season is strictly supervised.
“Contacts with our representatives in Brussels are regular and there is no knowledge of any pressure from the EU to abruptly close the present hunting season,” Mr Galdes said. Last week, Italian MEP Andrea Zanoni called on the European Commission to block the government’s derogation from the Birds Directive, referring to Malta as the “Wild West of Europe” when it comes to hunting.
The FKNK issued a statement on Sunday claiming Birdlife was “resorting to sensationalised tales and gross inaccuracies.”
Addressing the allegation that more than 9,000 shots were counted by Birdlife volunteers last Thursday, the FKNK said different Birdlife teams may have recorded the same shots multiple times.
They may have also counted shots being fired at out-of-range birds, and shots fired on clay-pigeon ranges, according to the federation.
As many as 40 shots can be fired at a fast, high-flying turtle dove without a hit, the FKNK said. It claimed that the shot-to-kill ratio was six/eight to one.
St Hubert Hunters also issued a statement “unreservedly” refuting Birdlife’s reports of widespread illegal hunting and inadequate policing.
It said its members witnessed only “a few” illegalities which were duly reported to the police.
It urged the European Commission to send its own independent observers to verify the situation.