Updated | Autumn hunting starts tomorrow • Hunting organisations 'won't tolerate abuses'

Autumn hunting season on land opens tomorrow until 31 January while hunting of birds at sea shall be permitted between 1 October and 31 January

In accordance with the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations (S.L. 504.71) the hunting of birds on land shall be permitted between 1 September and 31 January, between two hours before sunrise and two hours after sunset on any day between Monday and Saturday, and between two hours before sunrise and 1pm on Sundays and Public Holidays.

In a statement, the government said that the hunting of birds on land between 15 September and 7 October (inclusive of both dates) shall not be permitted from Monday to Saturday between 7pm and two hours before sunrise of the following day.

The hunting of birds at sea shall be permitted between 1 October and 31 January during the same times as those applicable to hunting on land, provided that between the 1 October and 7 October, inclusive of both dates, hunting at sea shall not be permitted from Monday to Saturday between 7pm and two hours before sunrise of the following day.

Compliance with applicable regulations will be rigorously enforced through field surveillance, spot checks and inspections.

Anyone caught shooting or trapping protected species listed in Schedules I and IX of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations will automatically incur a penalty comprising of a €5,000 fine, and / or imprisonment for one year, as well as permanent revocation or ban on obtaining a hunting or trapping licence, and confiscation of corpus delicti.

In case of a second or subsequent offence, the applicable penalty will go up to €10,000, confiscation, and / or imprisonment for two years. Penalties for all other irregularities, including for non-declaration of bagged birds in the Carnet de Chasse also apply. 

KSU warns it won’t tolerate any abuses

Wishing hunters a good season, Kaccaturi San Ubertu (KSU) warned it will not tolerate any abuse.

KSU has issued a directive to all its members to be watchful for illegalities and to report any incident they might witness to the police on telephone number 119.

“Apart from reporting illegal hunting activity, as major stakeholders in the countryside, hunters are also to report any illegal dumping, damage to rubble walls, damage to tress or any other prohibited activity,” secretary Nyal Xuereb said.

“It is in every law abiding hunter’s interest to weed out any law breakers who only serve to discredit legal hunting in Malta. KSU urges mutual respect from hunters and other countryside users and reminds about the legal rights to private property and the laws related to our countryside.”

FKNK warns against provocation from 'anti-hunting abolitionists' 

Hunting federation FKNK chief executive Lino Farrugia called on hunters to be wary of, and ignore, “provocative actions by anti-hunting abolitionist entities and/or individuals”.

“We wish our hunter members ‘good hunting’ for the hunting season that starts tomorrow,” he said in a statement.