The Ornis Committee will be recommending to the government a spring hunt for quail from April 10 to 30, from two hours before sunrise up to midday, with no individual bag limit, and a national bag limit of 5,000 birds.

The decision was taken with five votes for and two against.

This followed a hunters proposal for a quail hunt between the above dates and a turtle dove hunt from April 15 to 30.

In a statement, the hunters’ federation, FKNK, said it made its recommendation on the basis of its report “Traditional Turtle Dove Hunting in Spring on the Maltese Islands – Lifting of the Moratorium”.

Committee members requested more time to evaluate the FKNK report, which urges the government to immediately lift the moratorium and open discussions with the EU Commission for a long term solution to be reached on the hunting of turtle doves.

A decision on the turtle dove season will be taken at the next meeting to be held shortly.