The FKNK hunters' federation and the minister responsible for hunting, Clint Camilleri, have had two meetings during which they agreed on legal and practical ways how hunters can hunt turtle dove and capture song birds during the autumn, the federation said. 

Both are controversial.

Turtle-dove numbers are in decline in Europe and the breed has a ‘Vulnerable to Extinction’ status by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Hunting of turtle dove is restricted across all EU Member States.

Brussels has also threatened to take Malta to court over the trapping of songbirds, which it says violates conservation laws.  

The FKNK said representatives of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit attended one of the meetings it held with the minister at his office in Gozo. 

It said the two sides had discussed the hunting of turtle dove and the 'song birds research project' and how data by hunters and trappers could be reported to contribute to evidence on the sustainability of the two practices.