Autumn quail figures refute hunters’ claim that spring is no alternative

Study says over 45,600 quail migrated in autumn

Hunters in Malta must be among the worst shooters in the world, missing most of their targets, if figures about their quail hunting are anything to go by.

For according to a costly study, hunters bagged only seven per cent of the quail that flew over Malta last autumn – if the total they themselves provided is to be believed.

The study was conducted by the government-commissioned environmental company Ecoserv. It cost €116,230.

According to Ecoserv, a whopping 45,683 quail migrated over Malta last autumn, more than during the three-week spring hunting season earlier that year.

The figure turns on its head the claim hunters make that autumn hunting is no alternative to spring. It was an argument presented at the European Court of Justice, to back their claim for a spring hunting derogation.

Using the data which Ecoserv collected, and excluding the quail that passed over Malta during that part of the autumn hunting season which the government had suspended last year, Ecoserv said hunters bagged a miserly seven per cent of the quail – or just 1,688 of the birds.

The hunters must be short-sighted, or their gun barrels are warped.

But of course the seven per cent is what they reported in the carnet de chasse, the booklet hunters have to fill in, declaring their catches. Perhaps it is not warped gun barrels that they have, but a poor grasp of addition.

It is a different picture with turtledoves.

51% of all the turtledoves that flew over Malta during the part of last year’s autumn season that was open, were shot dead, according to the Ecoserv study, using the hunters’ own figures.

The estimates are that 7,956 turtledoves flew over Malta during the entire spring season. According to carnet de chasse data, 2,480 turtledoves were reported killed.

However, Ecoserv’s total turtledove count includes the birds that flew over Malta between 20 September and 10 October – the four weeks in which the Prime Minister had suspended the hunting season to safeguard protected bird species.

The suspension was made because of the killing of at least two white storks and two marsh harriers, both of which are protected species, in one week.

Ecoserv estimated that 4,796 turtledoves flew over Malta during the period when hunting was allowed – meaning that hunters this time were far more accurate in their shooting, blasting 2,480, or 51% of the birds they aimed at.

The hunters’ organisation FKNK insists that carnet de chasse data is reliable, but pro-environment activists have argued that there are hunters who do not declare their catches.

No seasonal bag limit for quail and turtledove exists, but the spring bag limit of 11,000 turtledoves and 5,000 quails applies only if the autumn catch of the previous year is lower than 10,000 turtledoves and 10,000 quails. 

Almost half of the hunters (6,746) out of the total 10,811 who are licensed, did not report any turtledove or quail catches during the last autumn hunting season. 

During three weeks in April 2014, when Ecoserv carried out an identical study, 24,922 turtledoves and 37,773 quails were observed.

Ecoserv, which has had experience on studies on fisheries, were the sole bidders for the research tender that the government released in June 2013. 

The study was carried out through field observations at 21 field monitoring sites located at strategic positions around the country. 

Its results will determine whether the European Commission will allow Malta to legislate a spring hunting season. If results of this study show that only a few turtledoves and quail pass over Malta in autumn – showing that hunters have no alternative but to shoot quarry in the spring – then the government and the FKNK will present a case with the European Commission to be allowed to derogate from the EU ban on spring hunting for these two bird species.

Each registered hunter is currently allowed to shoot down four turtledoves or quails in spring and a referendum is being held in April to determine whether this derogation should be abolished.