Ornis recommends increase in daily bag limit of hunted quails

The Ornis Committee will be recommending to the parliamentary secretary for animal rights, the opening of the quail-hunting season as of 27 March.

BirdLife Malta has opposed the reopening of the spring hunting season and voted against all recommendations put forward.

The committee includes hunters’ representatives, the Environment and Resources Authority and two government representatives.

The Ornis committee did not take on board the recommendation of the hunters’ federation, FKNK, for the season to run for three weeks during April – but an agreement was reached on that the season starts on 27 March.

The committee however supported the FKNK’s request to increase the daily bag limit from two to five birds and a seasonal bag limit of four to 10 birds.

Despite the individual increases, the committee rejected the hunters’ request to increase the national seasonal bag limit, which currently stands at 5,000.

The legal framework currently establishes a national bag limit of 5,000 quails. According to BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana, the increase of the bag limits per hunter, the national seasonal limit may be reached before the actual end of the season but the government risks of not being aware that the quota would have already been met by then.

Sultana insisted that the government should ignore the recommendation, and refrain from opening the season altogether.

“The final decision lies with the government and BirdLife Malta believes that the government should distance itself from the committee’s recommendations… after all, we know how the committee is set up.”

Sultana added that the decision should be based on scientific facts. He argued, that the figures gathered in a government-commissioned study showed that large numbers of quail were caught between 2011 and 2014.

“Within four autumn hunting seasons, 17,333 quails were captured, which BirdLife believes is sufficient and proves satisfactory for hunters. There is no reason to open the spring hunting season,” Sultana said.

Due to a moratorium announced by the government, hunters will not be allowed to hunt turtle doves, which have been classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species.