Spring hunting season for quail confirmed

A spring hunting season will be opened this year between 25 March and 14 April, the government has confirmed, following advice from the Ornis Committee.

Unlike previous spring hunting seasons, this upcoming one will only be open for quail after the turtle dove – the other previously huntable species – was deemed vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

As a form of ‘compensation’ to hunters, the seasonal bag limit for quail will increase from four to 10 birds, while the daily bag limit will increase from two to five birds. The national seasonal bag limit will remain unchanged at 5,000 birds – once this is reached, the government will be obliged to close the season. 

Eligible hunters have been advised to apply for a special spring hunting license at any MaltaPost branch between 27 February and 11 March.

To be deemed eligible, hunters must have a valid general hunting license, a valid police permit to carry a hunting firearm, and a valid third party liability insurance cover for 2017, and must be paid-up members to a recognized hunting organisation.

BirdLife Malta has insisted that a spring hunting season should not be opened for quail, on the basis that more than enough birds migrate over Malta during the autumn hunting season. Indeed, recent data shows that 69,915 quail migrated over Malta in the 2016 autumn hunting season, up from 50,514 in 2015 and 54,683 in 2014.

According to BirdLife Malta, this data renders the very grounds by which Malta is allowed to derogate from EU law banning hunting in spring – that not enough turtle dove and quail fly over the island in autumn – null and void. 

However, hunting lobby FKNK dismissed BirdLife’s logic, arguing that the autumn and spring hunting seasons cannot be compared like with like, given that the former lasts for five months and the latter merely three weeks. 

“It’s easy to play with numbers and statistics, but one cannot compare and contrast a season that lasts five months with one that lasts 14 half-days,” FKNK chief executive Lino Farrugia told MaltaToday earlier this month.

‘Political promises preferred over scientific facts’ - BirdLife

BirdLife criticised the government’s decision to open a spring hunting season, arguing that it is placing its political promises to the hunting lobby ahead of scientific facts.

“As stated when the Ornis Committee recommendation was made, we reiterate that there is no justification for a spring hunting season as studies commissioned and paid for the government itself show that in autumn there is a sufficient passage of quails during the first two months of the hunting season,” it said in a statement. “Over and above this, the conservation value that birds migrating north to their breeding grounds should not be killed remains at the forefront of this position.”