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The EU bans spring hunting, so should Malta continue the practice?
The hunting instinct is one of the most basic instincts of mankind. After all, we are the ultimate predator. Bringing up children requires the proper channelling of these instincts. Can anyone honestly say that, as kids, they never felt the urge to capture a wild bird or animal?
 The kill, when it occurs, is the final act of the hunt. We hunt to be alone, to observe wildlife, to witness a daily phenomenon, such as sunrise, which anyone could observe any day for free but which very few would dare venture or even bother. To face one of the greatest challenges in this world, to take a wild bird, animal on its own turf, using our brain and little else. Forget “automatic” guns. When it comes right down to it, such things are no good unless you can create an opportunity to use them. We have to use every sense, every bit of experience we have, and when we accomplish our goal, it’s always a new sensation.
Hunting is freedom, a tie to our ancestors, recreation, healthy, peace, contentment, happiness, joy, sweat, close calls, exploring, hiking, slyness, boring, exhilarating, tiring, satisfying, challenging, and a thousand other things. It’s there for anyone to discover, and judge for him/herself. No one should judge and condemn hunting emotionally and with no first hand experience.
Having established the why of hunting anywhere in the world, we can go on to the why of Maltese spring hunting.
In the Maltese islands we do not get any resident game species, only migratory game-bird species, and traditionally our main hunting quarries are the turtle dove and the quail, and again the best and traditional period of the year when these can be hunted is in spring.
Other countries are blessed with resident game and other species besides the migratory species, and they may also hunt some species or other throughout the whole year, even in spring. Of these several EU countries also have their traditional hunting which they keep: Finland’s traditional shooting of Eider Duck in spring; Italy’s traditional shooting of song-birds and sparrows; UK’s “pest” species shooting, corvids, wood-pigeons, rabbits etc, is permissible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So why should Malta, also an EU Member State, forfeit its traditional spring hunting?
Maltese hunters form an important part of the economic, social, cultural and political life of our islands, and any sportsman thus expects to exercise his legal right to practice hunting and trapping in the traditional manner, so long as he is fully aware that his harvesting does not constitute any threat to any particular species, and is therefore sustainable.
Maltese hunters utilise the basic principals of hunting, which is the method of wise use of renewable natural resources, and adapt European and international standards to the unique situation prevailing in the Maltese islands. Unique, since the Maltese bag depends solely on migratory birds, there being no resident species, as already explained. By such methods one can identify those species that can withstand harvesting, even the limited bag of Maltese sportsmen in spring, and regulate accordingly.
We would like to end this piece by another two quotes. The first from the present EU Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas who stated “sustainable hunting is part of the solution and not part of the problem”, and finally from the Federation for Hunting and Conservation – Malta: “We do it (hunting) because we enjoy it!”
Lino Farrugia is secretary of the Federation for Hunting and Conservation
Malta is situated in the midst of the central Mediterranean bird migration route. Every year, millions of birds fly through this territory on their migration journey. BirdLife Malta is against hunting or trapping of birds in spring. The issue concerns three main seasons allowed by Maltese regulations – trapping of finches up to 10 April, hunting at sea up to end of February, and hunting and trapping of turtle dove and quail from 25 March to 22 May. The way these seasons extend into the breeding season is a breach of the EU Birds Directive or Malta’s EU accession negotiations.
 Every year, having spent winter in Africa away from the cold, dark and short days in the north, birds migrate back to Europe. In spring, they make the most of the longer and warmer days and of the more abundant food supply in order to nest and raise their young. Some species, including finch and duck species, start migrating as early as mid-January. By this time birds are already getting prepared to breed and are already forming the breeding pair.
Hunting of birds that are preparing to breed should not be allowed. It is not sensible. In spring, every bird that is shot or caught means there is one breeding pair less in the wild, which obviously results in less offspring.
Birds migrating through Malta in spring have already crossed the Mediterranean Sea on a southbound journey in autumn. Their return journey north will again involve flying across large tracts of water and desert at the mercy of the elements, and at risk from predators. These difficulties are natural obstacles that perform an important function – that of ensuring only the best and strongest individuals survive to return to Europe to breed. This natural selection process ensures that the offspring are healthy specimens and is the guarantee for the existence of the species. By the time the birds pass through our islands they are in the final stages of this selection. Hunting of birds in spring takes toll of the best specimens and weakens the species. This is unsustainable and unacceptable.
Hunting in spring on turtle dove and quail effectively destroys the possibility that these birds breed in our islands.2
The European populations of turtle dove and quail have declined sharply in the past twenty years. In view of their decline, it is all the more important to prohibit their hunting in spring.
As a member of the EU, Malta is committed to observe EU community law – not just for the sake of adhering to the rules, but also to play its part in safeguarding the natural environment of the European Union. Abiding by them gives Malta a good image. Failure to do so will result in sanctions and fines to be imposed on Malta.
The EU Birds Directive 79/409/EEC states clearly that member states must not allow birds to be hunted during the breeding season. Although the Directive allows for exceptions (ie. derogations) to be made under Article 9, it expressly forbids a derogation if there is a satisfactory solution. Both these species are present and can be hunted in Malta in autumn and this constitutes a satisfactory alternative to hunting these species in spring.
Malta would benefit if hunting and trapping in spring were to stop. The countryside would be opened up to the public for leisure enjoyment. Malta would become more attractive to hiking and birdwatching tourists who tend to travel in the shoulder months.
Joseph M Mangion is president of BirdLife Malta |
