Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/306555
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 MAY 2014 3 MIRIAM DALLI ENFORCED inspections carried out by the authorities during this year's spring hunting season in Malta have doubled over last year and quadrupled over 2012, the gov- ernment said yesterday. The controversial spring hunting season came to an end on Wednes- day, customarily marked by the un- relenting feud between the hunting lobby and conservationists BirdLife which disagree with the derogation from the EU's ban on spring hunt- ing. By the end of the season, 54 sus- pected offenders were apprehend- ed, to be charged with a total of 63 suspected offences that have been disclosed until 30 April. "11 vio- lations are considered to be more serious as these involved suspected targeting of protected birds, hunt- ing without a license, or hunting within a bird sanctuary," the gov- ernment said. All cases are being prosecuted. In addition, police officers located and dismantled 11 illegal electronic bird callers and investigated sev- eral reports of suspected targeting of protected birds. But evidence gathered through investigations so far was insufficient to identify and charge suspected offenders in court, the government added. By comparison, during 2012 spring hunting season, the police disclosed a total of 64 offences, of which 24 violations were of relatively more serious nature, involving hunting without license, during unpermit- ted hours, in prohibited areas, or illegal trapping of protected birds. During the 2013 season, 53 hunt- ing offences, of which 18 relatively more serious, were disclosed. "The fact that during 2014 season, fewer serious incidents have been dis- closed despite the greatly increased enforcement surveillance under- scores that the overall rate of com- pliance has improved." Wild Birds Regulation Unit offi- cials, from the parliamentary secre- tariat for animal welfare, provided assistance in surveillance and in- vestigations on a 24-hour basis and have also carried out separate field inspections during the season. "This ratio of enforcement deploy- ment per square km of countryside is by far the highest of any country in Europe," the government said. Officers also carried out 2,105 physical spot-checks on individual hunters, some 21% of all licensed hunters, to verify compliance with special spring hunting license con- ditions. Malta has around 11,000 regis- tered hunters – under the spring hunting derogation, and a judge- ment by the European Court of Justice, Malta can allow a limited hunting season for 11,000 turtle dove and 5,000 quail. The spot checks were performed in addition to 2,178 routine field patrols and inspections carried out by the ALE, and several hundred further inspections carried out by district police units as well as Gozo police. "The total number of inspections and spot checks carried out dur- ing 2014 spring hunting season is more than double the number of inspections carried out during 2013 season and more than four times greater than the number of spot checks carried out in 2012," the government said. 2,054 inspections were carried out in 2013 while 1,072 inspections were carried out in 2012. Hunters were this year allowed an 18-day spring shunting season for turtle dove and quail. According to hunting lobby FKNK, thousands of hunters "deserved praise for the disciplined manner in which the relative hunting law was adhered to". FKNK's chief executive Lino Far- rugia dubbed BirdLife and the Cam- paign Against Bird Slaughter, which deploys bird monitors in the field to report poaching, "eco-terrorists." According to the Statistics re- leased yesterday, the Police and the Armed Forces of Malta collectively maintained a routine daily field deployment of 69 officers between 5am and 3pm. Deployment was fur- ther boosted during early morning hours up to maximum of between 80 and 96 officers. A complement of 39 officers carried out daily patrols between 3pm and 9:30pm, whilst on certain dates, four officers were deployed on night patrols until 5am to moni- tor significant roosts of protected birds. During the season, the police flew drones in a total of 25 sorties, rang- ing in duration between 15 and 30 minutes each, the majority of which were conducted during hours when hunting was not permitted. News Government says that although fewer serious incidents were disclosed, the increased enforcement surveillance meant that overall rate of compliance had improved Over 2,100 spot-checks during spring hunting, 54 facing charges More officers deployed in the field BIRDLIFE yesterday released photographs of the 18 injured and dead protected birds it re- ceived du ring the recent spring hunting season, together with descriptions of the injuries each bird had sustained after being shot illegally by hunters targeting these protected species. Every one of these birds is protected in Malta and Europe, and every one was examined by a veterinarian and confirmed as having been shot. The list of injuries sustained by these birds includes shattered wing and leg bones, severed limbs, open chest wounds, lead shotgun pellets lodged in the body and blinded eyes. "In the three months from January 1st up to the start of the hunting season on April 12th we received just eight shot protected birds. The 18 birds we received during the hunting season came in just three weeks," BirdLife Malta's con- servation manager, Nicholas Barbara, said. BirdLife also published a graph comparing the number of shot protected birds recovered for the same period (10-30 April) this year and in previous years, going back to 2006. "This gives some indication of the number of protected birds that have fallen victim to ille- gal hunting during this period," Barbara said. "It is very clear that when the spring hunting season was closed in 2008 and 2009, and boycotted in 2010, there appears to have been a signifi- cant reduction in the number of protected birds killed." The number of birds killed be- tween the 10-30 April this year is only one less than during the same period last year, appar- ently contradicting government claims of reduced targeting of protected birds as a result of ef- fective enforcement. "Each of these 18 birds repre- sents a case of shooting at a pro- tected species," Barbara said. "And none of them will be re- corded in government figures, as none of them will ever lead to a suspect being prosecuted." "It is absurd to point to these figures, as the hunting lobby and government regularly do, and claim that these are the only protected birds that have been shot during the spring hunting season," Barbara ar- gued. "We have seen many more protected birds flying with typ- ical gunshot injuries and oth- ers have been witnessed being shot at and shot down during the season. That fact that the police have not apprehended anyone in any of these cases should not be a cause for cel- ebration." BirdLife - no significant reduction in killing of protected birds The list of injuries sustained by the birds includes shattered wing and leg bones