FKNK denies stuffed birds law is ‘amnesty’, says turtle dove moratorium was long on agenda

Hunting lobby FKNK rubbished criticisms by BirdLife Malta that a new legal notice on the transfer of stuffed birds served as de facto amnesty for hunters. 

During a press conference on Thursday, FKNK President Lucas Micallef and CEO Lino Farrugia explained that the legal notice allowed hunters to regularise their ownership of stuffed birds .

Micallef stated that what FKNK proposed during Ornis committee meetings, and the legal notice as issued by government, are two separate things. “Our proposal deals with procedure,” he said. 

An application must be submitted to transfer a stuffed bird from one person to another to ensure that illegally shot birds are not passed off as past trophies.

Farrugia explained that the law will prevent action being taken against hunters in situations where a stuffed bird was transferred to another person but has not been inputted into the government system.

“We’re talking about a dead object,” he said. “These are situations where a transfer happened but it is not yet in the government’s system. Until it is inputted, don’t take action against us.”

Earlier on Thursday BirdLife Malta said that he legal notice was published by government hours before it had to be discussed by the Ornis Committee, an advisory body.

The bird conservation NGO said that government effectively granted an amnesty to those who transferred such specimens without written authorisation from the Wild Birds Regulation Unit.

Spring hunting for turtle doves

During Wednesday’s Ornis meeting the committee voted in favour of lifting the moratorium on turtle dove hunting in spring.

The moratorium had been introduced in 2017 following the classification of the turtledove by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species.

Farrugia stated that the decision to lift the moratorium was the result of “continuous perseverance” on the part of the lobby group. 

The timing of the spring hunting decision raised eyebrows among environmentalists as it comes on the tail end of an election campaign that saw the hunting lobby endorse several Labour ministers. But Farrugia rebutted this, saying that the spring hunting issue was on the committee’s agenda since 23rd February.

He said the meeting that day was postponed because the chairman indisposed. Farrugia recalled warning hunters and trappers that Malta’s entry into the EU would threaten the practice.

“The little we have left was only possible because FKNK never gave up,” he said.

On this note, he urged hunters and trappers to join FKNK as members. “Results don’t come by complaining in a corner, but with hard work”.

Micallef said that the committee’s decision was taken after evaluating data and scientific research, “so that the hunting of turtle doves in the springtime can take place again and can be practiced within sustainable parameters”.

READ MORE: In 2020 the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to Malta over infringements on quail spring hunting