Updated 6.25pm - Hunters reaction below

The government will be obliged to cut turtle dove hunting quotas by at least 50% following a European Commission decision to regulate autumn hunting of the vulnerable species, Birdlife said on Wednesday. 

The NGO says the decision could also shoot down hunters' hopes of being allowed to hunt turtle dove in spring.  

Birdlife said that while the EU has acknowledged that a full ban is the only way to secure protection of the species, which is in heavy decline, reductions of 50% that are calculated on declared catches in previous years will also be accepted. 

The EU decision will be on the agenda of an emergency Ornis Committee meeting called for Wednesday. The committee serves as the government's consultative committee for hunting. 

Malta's declared catch of turtle dove has averaged around 1,000 a year over the past years, meaning the EU decision will likely see that number slashed to 500 per year. 

Birdlife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said that the commission’s decision also meant that the chances of a spring hunting season for turtle doves is “definitely out of the question”, given that spring hunts are considered far more ecologically sensitive than autumn ones. 

This, he said, put more pressure on the government to strengthen enforcement efforts, as it said it expected local hunters to disregard the quota in violation of the law. 

Birdlife said that following the EU decision, countries such as France, Spain and Portugal are looking to ban turtle dove hunting all year round. Others such as Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta will be adopting a 50% reduction. 

FKNK: Hunting of turtle dove will be allowed this September

Meanwhile, the FKNK hunters' federation said that thanks to the Malta government's strong stand with the European Commission, Maltese hunters will still be permitted to hunt the turtle dove this September.

"The European Commission wants a total ban of turtle dove hunting in Europe, since it refuses to listen and accept any solid informed scientific data and figures from hunters, while it considers any BirdLife data as Gospel truth," the FKNK said.

"The Commission furthermore fails to grasp the concept of Adaptive Harvest Management or will not accept its proven adaptation in other countries whilst still clinging to a zero harvest. However, whereas the EC ban may be implemented in some countries within the turtle dove’s Western flyway, those countries in the Central-Eastern flyway, namely Greece, Cyprus, Italy and Malta, will still hunt the turtle dove, albeit with a reduced bag quota."

The FKNK said it will continue to work to reinstate 'traditional socio-cultural' turtle dove spring hunting and trapping.  This, it said, is a right of Maltese and Gozitan hunters and trappers which was established by the European Court of Justice in 2009 and by the referendum in 2015.