'Hunting in spring doesn't impact bird breeding' - Yes camp

The Yes to Spring Hunting campaign has defended spring hunting on the basis that it doesn't impact the breeding of turtledoves in Malta.

“The turtledove breeding season reaches its peak in May, a month without spring hunting, and yet they don’t breed in Malta then,” Yes spokesperson Kathleen Grima said. “Also, why didn't turtledoves breed in Malta when the spring hunting season was closed in 2008 and 2009?”

However, the European Court of Justice ordered a ban on Maltese spring hunting in 2008 on the basis that it harms the breeding of birds across Europe, and not just the breeding of birds in Malta.

Grima also argued that the trapping of songbirds in spring has no impact on their breeding in Malta.

“Bird breeding decreased in 2008 and 2009, when the spring hunting season was closed,” Grima said. “Moreover, hunting and trapping don’t take place in Comino, and yet songbirds, turtledoves and other huntable species have never bred there in large numbers,” she said.  

She insisted that turtledove and quail populations are not at risk of extinction.

“7,500,000 turtledoves and quail get hunted every year in Europe, and the derogation only allows Malta to hunt 16,000 such birds every spring,” Grima said. “If turtledove and quail were truly in danger of extinction, then the EU would start by tackling the millions of birds shot across the EU, irrespective of whether they are shot in autumn or in spring.”

Yes spokesperson Sylvana Zarb Darmanin accused the SHout campaign of wanting to “eliminate hunters from the countryside”.

“After a few weeks of campaigning, the debate on Malta’s right to the derogation has closed, as everyone is aware that all EU member states have the right to apply derogations,” she said. “We no longer hear about hunters killing birds for fun, as the people have grown aware that the huntable birds can all be eaten.”