BirdLife Malta flags concerns about hunting controls

BirdLife Malta has identified several areas of concern surrounding the quail spring hunting season, due to open on Saturday, including control over quotas.

In a statement reiterating its position that there is no scientific justification for the spring hunting season to open, BirdLife Malta said that controlling quail quotas in the past has “proven next to impossible,” lamenting over the fact that the quota for this year has increased as a result of a moratorium on turtle doves.

Unlike previous spring hunting seasons, this year’s will only be open for quail after the turtle dove was deemed vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. As a form of ‘compensation’ to hunters, the seasonal bag limit for quail will increase from four to 10 birds, while the daily bag limit will increase from two to five birds.

The national seasonal bag limit will remain unchanged at 5,000 birds – once this is reached, the government will be obliged to close the season. 
Another issue brought up by BirdLife Malta was related to the fact that hunting of quail requires hunters to actively search for their game, rather than sitting in hides.

“It remains to be seen how the season shall be enforced,” BirdLife Malta said.

Furthermore, BirdLife Malta criticised the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) for its failure to clamp down on “rampant use of illegal electronic callers,” used at night to attract quail.

“No move was made by the WBRU to clamp down on these by improving the system of administrative fines currently in place.”

BirdLife Malta urged the public to report illegalities to the police and to the organisation.

“During the next three weeks, BirdLife Malta will be counting on the public’s engagement to ensure that environmental law enforcement remains a priority during this year’s spring hunting season. While hoping that illegalities continue to decrease, we urge anyone witnessing illegal hunting to immediately report the case to the police and to BirdLife Malta in order for immediate action to be taken,” BirdLife Malta said.

The organisation added that electronic lures should be reported together with their GPS locations and the time when they are heard.

A spring hunting season will be opened this year between 25 March and 14 April, and quail is the only huntable species.