As the autumn hunting season is set to open on Thursday, Birdlife issued a statement on Wednesday criticising the lack of enforcement and the government’s decision to steam ahead.
It also urged European Commissioner for Environment Virginijus Sinkevičius to take immediate action against Malta and called upon the public to record and report illegalities.
In a statement, Birdlife said the five-month season will permit the hunting of 500 turtle doves against recommendations from an expert EU task force. It will also be possible to hunt for more than 30 other bird species.
“The government’s decision to steam ahead with the season follows meetings held directly between the hunting federation, the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) and the Ministry for Gozo, shunning the ORNIS Committee,” Birdlife said.
It said hunters are expected to keep to a quota while illegalities have already marred the autumn bird migration period with enforcement absent as a flock of black kites sought refuge on the Maltese Islands last week and was targeted by illegal hunting.
“The decision to go ahead with the hunting of European turtle doves was unilaterally taken by the Gozo Ministry without any consultation with the ORNIS Committee.
“Although mostly used to rubber-stamp politically motivated decisions, the committee has not convened since the infamous May meeting which saw the unacceptable behaviour of FKNK’s CEO Lino Farrugia.
“Farrugia had stormed at head of WBRU Richard Lia during a heated exchange of words in relation to hunters’ obligation to report their hunting effort during this year’s spring hunting season, with Farrugia insisting this was placed on purpose to put hunters in difficulty,” Birdlife said.
It added that although obliged to report their hunting efforts and catches of turtle dove and quail last spring, according to a WBRU report on this year’s spring hunting derogation submitted to the European Commission, less than 10% of hunters reported catching at least a single bird.
In total, 816 turtle doves were declared caught between more than 8,000 hunters between April 17 and 30.
Birdlife noted that the European Commission’s task force on the recovery of birds had advised member states to halt turtle-dove hunting in 2022 due to the species’ continued decline across the European continent.
Various EU states have since heeded such advice and stopped the hunting of turtle dove this autumn, including Sicily, which recently declared it will not open a hunting season on turtle dove given the poor data collection by hunters and the conservation status of the species.
BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana said Prime Minister Robert Abela had taken a back seat and was letting the Gozo Ministry ignore EU advice and shun the ORNIS committee, while illegalities are recorded daily.
“BirdLife Malta has still not heard any reaction or answer from the Prime Minister after we wrote to him last week in the wake of illegalities which saw a flock of black kites seeking refuge on the Maltese Islands being targeted across Malta and Gozo," he said.
He said Gozo police were unavailable at the time of the incidents and requests to the police commissioner about enforcement have remained unanswered.
Illegal hunting and trapping incidents are to be reported to BirdLife Malta on 2134 7646 or 7925 5697 (outside office hours) or directly to police on 119 asking for the Environmental Protection Unit.