Hunters and trappers said they were experiencing psychological torture while awaiting the government's decision on the opening of spring season, as recommended by the Ornis committee last month.
Government sources said a date had not yet been set but reiterated it would be communicated in the coming days.
Thousands of hunters and trappers and their families were facing psychological torture as they tensely awaited the decision, the hunters' federation, FKNK, said yesterday.
It said the hunters, trappers and their families were expecting Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi to apply a spring hunting derogation in terms of the EU Directive and within the parameters of the verdict of the European Court of Justice.
It added that, despite promises by the government that hunting would continue after EU membership, spring hunting was banned in 2008 and 2009 because of a case against Malta before the ECJ. Since then, hunters and trappers had suffered in silence, with tragic consequences in some cases.
The federation said the ECJ's final verdict of September 10, 2009, vindicated the hunters' arguments. Notwithstanding years of misleading propaganda by the anti-hunting lobby, Malta was free to use a spring hunting derogation as other member states did, it argued.
"After six months of consultation with the EU Commission, something he did not have to do, Dr Gonzi's hesitation in announcing the opening and closing dates of a limited hunting period creates unnecessary tension. This issue will not go away or be forgotten and the FKNK will ensure that," the federation said.
It continued: "Dr Gonzi is in duty bound to satisfy, without further delay, the legitimate expectations of Malta's hunters and trappers, which now carry the stamp of the EU's highest legal body."
Reacting to this, BirdLife Malta said that before any spring hunting decision was announced, the government had to publish the number of birds shot and trapped in 2008.
The carnet de chasse 2008 report was due for publication last year but repeated requests by BirdLife during Ornis meetings and directly to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to make the records public were ignored. It added that no reply was forthcoming to its latest request on April 1.
It also drew attention to the fact that the European Commission had also not received the report.
BirdLife Malta executive director Tolga Temuge said: "We have always stated that the carnet de chasse is a gross underestimation of the true scale of hunting."
However, since the government based its defence at the ECJ on the figures hunters provided and since the government was planning to open another spring hunting season based on the previous years' figures, then it was crucial that the data was made public, he said.
Bird sightings from 2008 clearly showed that during the autumn migration, following the first spring hunting ban that year, the number of common quails that migrated over Malta was significantly higher than in spring.
"If this were revealed in the figures, it would crush the government's argument that autumn was not a satisfactory alternative to spring hunting," Mr Temuge said.
He said Malta still lost the case at the ECJ because the country did not meet other conditions needed for the derogation, adding that the government still decided to interpret the ECJ ruling as offering the opportunity to open another spring hunting season.
BirdLife said that regardless of the "alternative solution" condition for a derogation, both the turtle dove and common quail were listed as Species of Conservation Concern in Europe. Therefore, no derogation should be applied according to the European Commission's own hunting guide to the Birds Directive, it said.