‘Stop sentimentalising,’ says chief hunter: ‘killing is part of life’

How the main man at the head of the hunting lobby dismissed the campaign against spring hunting: “stop sentimentalizing the issue and personifying birds because the vast majority among us enjoy eating fowl”

Joe Perici Calascione has a drink of water in between rounds of debating on Xarabank (file photo). Photo: Ray Attard
Joe Perici Calascione has a drink of water in between rounds of debating on Xarabank (file photo). Photo: Ray Attard

One of Maltese hunting’s main figureheads, FKNK president Joe Perici Calascione, has dismissed the campaign against spring hunting because killing – he posited – is only a natural part of life.

“I view killing as a natural part of life,” the Iva spokesman said during a press conference organized by the Broadcasting Authority.

“If I were born a captive quail in a chicken coop, my destiny would be to be fed and occasionally injected to ultimately end up as someone’s dinner. This is still a case of killing, but people never stop to think about it,” Calascione said to illustrate his point that people should not think of hunting as something that affects individuals.

Malta goes to the polls on 11 April to vote whether to allow the government to keep derogating from the EU ban on spring hunting for turtle dove and quail.

“Let’s stop sentimentalizing the issue and personifying birds because the vast majority among us enjoy eating fowl,” Calascione added, referring to questions on the sustainability of spring hunting and the impact on future generations of birds.

He said that the argument that birds are migrating in order to lay eggs and breed was “an unnecessary sentimentalisation” and that the difference between hunters and the rest of the public was the fact that hunters did the actual killing.

Calascione stressed that all hunting was done in a sustainable manner, using an analogy of savings and interests to explain his point.

“The money saved up is the number of living birds and the babies are presented by interest. Hunting is like always taking away interest but never touching the capital. Hunters are only targeting birds that are going to die anyway,” Calascione explained stressing that hunting is by extension not really affecting the species in question.

Calascione further illustrated this point by referring to the national quota of 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quails and comparing to European statistics which are supported by the European Commission and BirdLife International, where there are 14 million turtledoves and 22million quails.

“If we want to look at numbers and sustainability, our limits are in fact rather minimal,” Calascione said, rubbishing claims that spring hunting was unsustainable.

Calascione referred to the EU guidance document for sustainable hunting.

“The document indicates that anything less than 1% of birds that are going to die anyway, is considered negligible, and Malta’s rate is at a mere 0.37%,”

Referring to judge emeritus Giovanni Debono’s opinion about how the removal of the derogation would not affect other hobbies, Calascione stressed that the law is “subject to interpretation.”

“Debono’s opinion is not the Bible, it is merely an opinion,” Calascione stressed referring to the fact that the pro-hunting campaign had worked closely with lawyers themselves who had confirmed the risk the abolishment of the derogation would pose to other hobbies.

Calascione said that voting for yes would mean voting for balance, respect and tolerance:

“Hunters have already had their hobby diminished to a mere 20 days out of spring, and the number of species to be hunted has fallen from 23 to two, people should be tolerant and accepting of each other’s hobbies.”

Brushing aside claims of intimidation from hunters towards members of the general public, Calascione pointed out that hunters often did their best to improve the countryside they operate in.

“Although we had never made our contribution public before, hunters work very hard to keep the countryside in the good state the public enjoys through projects like cleaning and maintenance of rubble walls among others,” Calascione said, explaining the inspiration for the group’s campaign.

He added that the ideas of hunters threatening members of the public and condoning abuses, were all a part of “scare-mongering,” and that they did not appreciate how much things had evolved since then.

“The FKNK, for instance now has a zero-tolerance policy for those caught breaking the rules and we are working on more unity between associations to ensure that those breaking the rules are expelled from hunting associations, and subsequently lose their right to applying for a hunting license,” Calascione said.

He added that it was the pro-hunting lobby itself that had tried to instill new means to ensure that hunters are honest in reporting the number of birds they shoot down, through the creation of things such as carnets de chasse and SMS declarations of catches.

“Police spot-checks have increased drastically, and we have also created a new marshal system which entails that hunters themselves patrol the countryside and report any irregularities they witness,” he said.

Calascione emphasized the importance of hunting for these two species specifically in spring rather than autumn, as quails and turtledoves were “rare” during the autumn months.

“I am ready to testify that I haven’t managed to shoot down a turtledove in the last four years, not because I have a bad aim,” he laughed explaining that this made spring an important season for hunters.

Asked about the yes-camp’s reaction should the referendum be won by the opposing camp, Calascione said that the associations in question would work hard to find any legal means and options possible to defend the right to enjoy their hobby.

 Calascione said that the pro-hunting lobby believes in a democracy where the majority should govern respecting minorities.

“In this case a democratic tool is being used to effect and grind down a minority. We hope that the people will understand the importance of tolerance and working together to fight abuses in the sector,” Calascione said.

Journalists present at the conference were Tim Diacono for MediaToday, Mario Micallef for PBS, Therese Bonnici for Standard Publications, Kurt Sansone for Allied Newspapers, Jesmar Baldacchino for RTK, Matthew Mamo for MediaLink, Albert Gauci Cunningham for Union Print and Dinah Seguna for One Productions.