Hunters unhappy with bag limits for spring hunting season

Malta’s hunters are unsatisfied with the new spring hunting bag limits the Maltese government says it has negotiated with the European Commission.

“The actual numbers that are being contemplated by this Legal Notice are highly controversial, unilaterally and unscientifically calculated,” the FKNK’s secretary Lino Farrugia said about the bag limits for spring, which will be calculated according to how many birds are caught during the preceding autumn season.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday announced in parliament that a derogation from the EU ban on spring hunting will not need to be applied, if the total catch in autumn does not exceed 20,000 quail and 21,000 turtle dove.

The maximum allowable catch in spring would then be limited to 5,000 quail and 11,000 turtle dove if the limit for autumn hunting is not exceeded.

This maximum bag limit can be reduced by inverse proportion to the catch in autumn, so that the 11,000 turtle dove and 5,000 quail can only be allowed in spring, if the catch in autumn was limited to 10,000 quail and 10,000 turtle dove or less.

The FKNK claims their calculations, based on 1% mortality as the maximum limit, “far exceed even the benchmark made by government for an autumn season (20,000 quails and 21,000 turtle doves).”

The FKNK even said the legislation still discriminates against trappers, since trapping of the two species is not permissible, and against hunters, because it prohibits hunting on Sundays and public holidays. “Hunting is not being permitted, when ironically all other recreational activities, football, motor racing, horse racing, normally take place on Sundays and public holidays.”

In their reaction to the news, BirdLife said the amendments had not been discussed at the Ornis Committee and even claimed the government was misinforming the public when it claimed it had reached an agreement with the EC. “The Commission does not make agreements with member states on derogations... it is Malta’s responsibility to ensure derogations are applied according to EU law.”

The government responded, saying its agreement with the EC was on a framework legislation for the application of a derogation “and not on a derogation as indicated by BirdLife.”

FKNK said BirdLife should “stop misinterpreting” the ECJ judgement and “accept that spring hunting is possible, and above all, never was, and is not, illegal.”

The FKNK said that since the ECJ, in the case the Commission brought against Malta for violating the spring ban hunting, had said the autumn bags of 5,500 quails and 5,500 turtle doves were inconsiderable, such numbers did not offer a satisfactory alternative solution to Maltese hunters.

“Now government is offering 5,000 quails and 11,000 turtle doves, to be further deducted according to the previous autumn bags, as satisfactory alternative solutions,” Farrugia said. 

 Malta can derogate from the Birds Directive to hunt for turtle dove and quail under Article 9, but Gonzi said the flexibility of this condition was put in doubt by the ECJ’s sentence in the case the Commission brought against Finland. “This sentence prohibited spring hunting because a possibility to hunt birds in the autumn already existed. This made it very difficult for Malta to convince the EC that its case was different from Finland’s, and it even took Malta to court to prevent it from opening the spring hunting season.”

Gonzi said in his statement that every derogation is to be considered separately every year it is applied. “Every derogation has to consider the state of conservation of the species when the maximum number of birds that can be hunted is established; every derogation must consider the possibility of hunting in autumn, prior to the spring season… and any derogation must ensure the protection of the species to satisfactory levels.”

Gonzi said the deal with the EC was “exceptional” and thanked Permanent Representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana, who led the negotiations.

“No member state has ever managed to make a strong enough case to authorise this derogation from the spring hunting [ban].”

Gonzi also said the EC declared the deal as the “absolute maximum acceptable position”.

The prime minister said the deal was witness to the government’s will in defending its accession treaty with the EU. “While this is a success in preserving Malta’s hunting traditions, the government is committing itself to ensure this tradition is practiced in full respect of the environment and the rights of all citizens.”