Updated with government reaction at 4.50pm - Birdlife Malta has presented a letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat expressing its concerns about the upcoming hunting season, which opens on Friday. 

CEO Mark Sultana implored the government to show it would not tolerate any illegalities.

He said the Ornis Committee always met before the opening of the autumn season, and for all its defects, served as a channel of information for NGOs like Birdlife. No such meeting has been held so far.

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This season, he said, the NGO had not even been given information on how many police would be out in the field ensuring the law was enforced.

Birdlife Malta’s conservation manager Nicky Barbara said in the coming weeks, volunteers from all over Europe would be coming to Malta to monitor the season and cooperate with authorities.

The BirdLife officials said the Ornis Committee has yet to be appointed, just days before the opening of the autumn hunting season.

But in a reaction, the Environment Ministry said the committee has been appointed and its members are being notified. Retired Magistrate Dennis Montebello is the chairman, and Sergei Golovkin is secretary. Hunters' organisatons and environment NGOs are its members, as in the past. 

Environment Minister Jose' Herrera said he would meet the committee in the coming days and the committee would oversee the hunting season as it normally did.  

Birdlife met with reporters outside Castille this morning. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Hunting season

The autumn season allows for the hunting of 40 species from land and 12 species at sea.

Hunting on land will be permitted during the two hours before sunrise and two hours after sunset between Monday and Saturday, and the two hours before sunrise and 1pm on Sundays and public holidays.   

Hunting at sea will be permitted between October 1 and January 31 during the same times.  

Turtle Doves can only be hunted between September 1 and 30, with a 7,000 maximum national quota set. All hunters must report any birds they catch via a telephone reporting system before leaving the hunting area. 

Hunting on land between 7pm and the two hours before sunrise will be suspended between September 15 and October 7. Hunting at sea will be suspended for the same hours between October 1 and October 7.  

The Environment Ministry said law enforcement during the hunting season had improved, with the number of officers deployed having more than doubled since 2013. Illegalities had dropped sharply.  Clint Camilleri

Parliamentary secretary Clint Camilleri, who is responsible for animal welfare, called for cooperation between all concerned. He said the pastime of the hunters would be safeguarded as long as the law was respected.