‘Spring hunting illegalities will continue if No vote wins’ – Yes campaign

Spring hunting illegalities won’t end if spring hunting is abolished through an upcoming referendum, Yes campaign spokesperson Kathleen Grima warned.

“Police spot-checks on hunters will actually increase,” Grima, the lawyer of hunting organisation FKNK, said during a debate on Xarabanak. “Maintaining a balance is important. Have we become so intolerant that the countryside can’t be enjoyed by both the hunters and the rest of the population during the spring hunting season?”

MediaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan argued that the referendum represents a chance for Malta to progress to the level of other European countries.

“Malta has progressed in every area except for the spring hunting issue,” Balzan, a Spring Hunting Out (SHout) spokesperson, said. “In the modern world, it is accepted that spring hunting on turtledove and quail shouldn’t occur. However, Maltese hunters think that they have the sacred right to stop the clock from turning and to keep Malta in the medieval ages.”

He dismissed claims that he was campaigning in favour of a No vote out of a hatred for hunters.

“I simply disagree with the shooting of birds at a time when they fly over Malta to breed,” Balzan said. “I also believe that everyone has the right to enjoy the countryside without any fear or intimidation. In 2015, we should be optimistic that Malta will progress to a European level.”

He pointed out that the European Court of Justice had found Malta guilty of not applying its spring derogation properly between 2004 and 2007. The ECJ subsequently commenced infringement procedures against the Maltese government

“Between 2004 and 2007, the hunters had declared the correct amount of birds that they had caught,” Balzan said. “From 2007 onwards, they somehow started declaring lower catches. They clearly learned the trick of the trade and started lying about how many birds they had shot down.”  

Grima quoted ex European Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik as saying that Malta should be allowed a limited spring hunting season for turtledove and quail because too few of those bird species fly over the island during the autumn hunting season.

“Maltese hunters only catch 0.67% and 0.11% of the total quail and turtledove populations in Europe,” she said. “According to the European Commission’s guide to sustainable hunting, killing less than 1% of a species’ populations is mathematically negligible.”

‘Pandemonium’ if Yes campaign wins

SHout spokesperson Moira Delia warned that “pandemonium” would erupt if the Yes campaign were to win the referendum.

She also criticised claims that the referendum was a waste of public funds.

“Money is wasted on constant police spot checks, prosecutions, and annual surveys on how many quail and turtledove fly over Malta during the autumn hunting season,” she said.

The most recent survey, carried out by environmental company Ecoserv, cost €116,230.

“Simply put, we want to end the killing of birds, while the Yes campaign wants to continue killing them,” Delia said.

Grima said that hunters will act humbly and respectfully in the event of a Yes win.

“They won’t act arrogantly after all that they would have gone through,” she said. “They’d be more likely to reflect at how close their hobby came to getting abolished.”

‘Other hobbies at risk’ if No campaign wins

FKNK chief executive Joe Perici Calscione argued that a victory for the No campaign could create a precedent for the abolishment of other hobbies, such as horse-riding and motorsports.

Balzan pointed out that Giovanni Bonello, a former judge at the European Court of Human Rights, had already dismissed this argument as an “outright lie”.

However, Grima bluntly admitted to disagreeing with Bonello.

“Fireworks manufacturers are granted licenses to practice their hobbies, and a future referendum could abolish this right,” she said.

‘People don’t go to the countryside at 6am’

Grima argued that the spring hunting season is only open for twenty-half days, 8% of the spring season.

“Spring hunting stops at 12pm on Saturdays and Sundays and at 2pm on weekdays,” she said. “Do people really wake up at 6am to go in the countryside during the spring? Don’t people go to work or school?”

However, Balzan pointed out that several people do in fact go for early morning jogs or cycles.

“Not everybody who visits the countryside does so with a gun in hand,” he said. “Spring hunting occurs during April, the best part of the spring season, after which the weather is too hot.

“The people will head to the polls, not because political parties want them to, but because they want spring to be a season where everyone can enjoy the countryside without intimidation.”