A spring hunting season is expected to be announced later this week despite new restrictive measures meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
The government's consultative body on hunting, the so-called Ornis committee, is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to discuss the opening of a spring hunting season for quail.
Times of Malta is informed that the consultative committee is set to vote on the dates for a hunting season spanning from March 30 to April 20.
The forthcoming season will be held during the soft lockdown ordered by the authorities last week.
Prime Minister Robert Abela, on Wednesday, announced a raft of new restrictive measures to last at least a month.
All non-essential shops and services as well as schools have been ordered to close. The new measures also limit the size of groups gathering in public to four and banned all organised sports activities.
While the elderly have not been ordered to remain indoors, the authorities have urged them to exercise caution.
Although the hunting season has not technically been approved yet, Times of Malta understands it has already been green-lit by Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri, who has taken over responsibility for the practice from his cabinet colleague, Environment Minister Aaron Farrugia.
In fact, the hunting federation, FKNK, has already invited members to apply for a special licence to hunt in a season expected to be opened later this month. FKNK has also informed its members it plans to put forward proposals in connection with the hunting season.
The move to open a season for quail during the pandemic may raise concerns about a lack of law enforcement.
Under the terms of a derogation (legal exemption) from EU law, which Malta applies to allow a spring hunting season, the police must assign seven officers per 1,000 hunters to enforce the law.
The police administrative law enforcement unit, which is generally responsible for policing hunting laws, has, in recent months, been reassigned to other duties related to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Concerns about a lack of law enforcement to police hunters had already been raised one year ago, when the government decided to open hunting season while police officers were busy enforcing COVID-19 rules.
The subsequent spring hunting season has been labelled as the worst-ever for illegal poaching of protected species.
Conservationist group BirdLife had said that the number of shot protected species in the 2020 season was more than triple that recorded in previous years.