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Michaela Muscat
Nicholas Hanley, the head of the Nature and Biodiversity Unit of the European Commission has reiterated his stand over the future of Spring hun ting, “taking into account the current circumstances, the Commission is not at all convinced that the Maltese government will be able to abide by the strict conditions of the derogation.”
MaltaToday asked Hanley whether he was of the opinion that spring hunting of turtle dove and quail in Malta would have to stop. He said that the Maltese government has to “scientifically prove that hunters would have no reasonable alternative to hunting during the migration period.
The derogation that has to be revised annually is “not open-ended.” The government has to present the Commission with an elaborate report and exert strict control over the number of birds hunted and the time period allowed.
Environmental groups will be content to know of the Commission’s knowledge of the alarming state of illegal hunting that is apparently beyond the government’s jurisdiction.
Hanley said that there have been instances when there was a justified cause that led to the derogation to be applied lawfully. But ultimately it is up to the government to make a case for the Maltese hunters.
As for trapping, for Hanley it is a totally different issue. As far as the European Commission is concerned, the trapping derogation discussed during the negotiation treaty “was only given for five years so that trapping could be phased out and on condition that trapping could only take place during the normal hunting season.”
michaelam@newsworksltd.com
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