Bird lovers, hunters agree figures quoted are 'on low side'

Both BirdLife Malta's president and the Federation for Hunting and Conservation feel that the figures of shot birds as communicated to the EU by the government to justify the spring shooting derogation are "on the low side".

The report contains the figures submitted by hunters in the carnet de chasse, a form they hand in when paying their hunting licence. This contains details of the birds they shot in the previous year.

The report states that in 2004, there were 11,759 registered hunters and 4,691 registered trappers. Between them they shot or trapped 2,128 quails and 10,111 turtle doves from May 1 to May 22, 2004.

Contacted yesterday, the secretary general of the federation, Lino Farrugia, said the figures were "a bit on the low side".

BirdLife Malta president Joe Mangion went further, saying the figures quoted are "to say the least, incredible. They throw serious doubts on the reliability of the hunting bag data but also make one ask whether it is indeed true that spring is the main 'hunting' season for turtle dove and quail.

"Previous estimates by the National Statistics Office had put an approximate number of 100,000 turtle doves shot in a year in Malta. If 10,111 turtle doves were shot in May, what of the remaining 90,000?," Mr Mangion asked.

Mr Farrugia said that if the figures were taken from the carnet de chasse, it was important to see whether any mistakes made by whoever filled the original forms were taken into consideration.

"I recall when I compiled some statistics from the carnet de chasse myself, you'd note someone recording having shot 30 fieldfares but skipping a line and going on to record song thrushes. Maybe those who compiled them were not technical enough and this can affect figures," Mr Farrugia said.

May of 2004 was not a particularly good year for turtle doves, he added. These past few years, April was the main season for turtle doves and fewer appeared in May. But the figures given in the report were still a bit low, he admitted.

"It does not do anyone any good to report low catches. Next year's report would have to report higher numbers. But the amount reported will not influence the EU when it comes to decide if the derogation was justified or not.

"If the government felt the figures would have any bearing, ultimately they are responsible. I can't tell if they heeded our advice or not as I have not seen the full report," Mr Farrugia said.

Asked if he stood by the figures he had given in 2001, when it was stated that hunters shoot about 100,000 turtle doves in spring, Mr Farrugia said 100,000 was "a more realistic figure".

"We need a carnet de chasse through which one can glean data on how birds are caught, in which season, whether shot or caught by nets. I had drafted one but the government officials felt it was too complicated. I am sure hunters will get used to it in the end and the carnet will reach the aims," Mr Farrugia said. Mr Mangion expressed serious doubts on the legality of the derogation to allow hunting in spring.

"The relevant article 9 of the Birds Directive has not yet been transposed into Maltese legislation and, hence, there is no legal basis on which the government can even attempt to derogate from the provisions of the Birds Directive.

"This effectively renders the derogation report invalid and therefore we expect the EU Commission to start taking steps against Malta for breaching the Birds Directive by allowing spring hunting.

"We have already submitted a formal complaint to the Commission in July this year and we have insisted with the EU Commission and (EU Environment) Commissioner Stavros Dimas on the need to start infringement procedures against Malta," Mr Mangion said.

"Without prejudice to this position, BirdLife Malta is however interested to see the report and comment on it and in fact we have made a formal request to Environment Minister George Pullicino and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority for an official copy of the derogation report. "At the same time we note that the report is only covering three weeks of an eight-week-long spring hunting season. It is clear the government has jumped on the bandwagon of the EU accession date to try and minimise the effects of spring hunting," Mr Mangion said. Mr Pullicino and Malta's Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, met Mr Dimas in Brussels on Wednesday and discussed hunting and trapping with him.

The government said Mr Pullicino had the opportunity "to explain to Commissioner Dimas the local realities of hunting and trapping in the light of the report that has just been submitted".

Contacted yesterday Mr Pullicino said: "The figures are what hunters declared in the carnet de chasse. We reproduced what they reported, we did not cook any figures, we just reproduced what they gave.

"The figures are from May 1 to May 22, which is not the peak spring hunting season. Next year's figures will be different as they will contain the whole period."