Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/472423
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 4 MARCH 2015 3 News Study says over 45,600 quail migrated in autumn CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 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 turtle- doves. 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 turtle- doves flew over Malta during the en- tire spring season. According to car- net 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 pro- tected 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 tur- tledoves 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 activ- ists 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 li- censed, did not report any turtledove or quail catches during the last au- tumn 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 monitor- ing 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 – show- ing 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 dero- gate from the EU ban on spring hunt- ing for these two bird species. Each registered hunter is currently allowed to shoot down four turtle- doves or quails in spring and a refer- endum is being held in April to deter- mine whether this derogation should be abolished. tdiacono@mediatoday.com.mt Busuttil urges electorate to vote for PN candidates at council elections MIRIAM DALLI WITH five days to go for the official launch of the campaign for the local elections, PN leader Simon Busut- til yesterday urged the electorate to vote for the candidates of the Na- tionalist Party. "Most of the local councils in this year's round have a Labour majority. We are realistic and we know that we can't simply turn around that major- ity, especially in the Labour strong- holds. However, we are campaigning intensively at a local level and we are doing our work," Busuttil said in an interview on Radio 101. The PN leader said his party, even though in opposition, has proven to be very effective in influencing and pushing for change at a national level. "We forced the government to change its position on a number of issues and it was thanks to our con- stant pressure that the prices of fuel have been lowered. We were effec- tive on a national level … imagine what we can do at local level." Replying to questions posed by Newsdesk presenter Jerome Caru- ana Cilia, Busuttil spoke at length about the Café Premier case, reiter- ating that no one but Prime Minis- ter Joseph Muscat had to shoulder responsibility for this. "This is a scandal; the biggest scan- dal of the past two years of a Labour government. It is a scandal because the Prime Minister was directly involved. It is Joseph Muscat who has to answer for this scandal. It is a scandal because the government paid €4.2 million for a settlement that should have never taken place." Busuttil said there was nothing that justified the government's bailout of the Café Premier. He said that the Prime Minister had appeared "ex- tremely uncomfortable" answering questions by journalists yesterday, at a news conference at MaltaPost on the Youth Guarantee Scheme. "Everyone who saw Muscat could clearly see that he appeared to be very uncomfortable, the attitude of a person with something to hide," Busuttil insisted. The PN leader added that while the Prime Minister was denying that he ever discussed the Café Premier deal before the general election, "the real question is whether people can believe him". "While the PM wants to fool every- one into believing that he never dis- cussed the bailout, the owners of the same café closed their doors on elec- tion day and never reopened them. "Something stinks and it is not the coffee. It is suspicious that for this government, the most important thing to settle as soon as it's elected is this bailout," Busuttil said. "The aroma coming out of the Café Premier is not of coffee but of corruption," he quipped. Moving on to another subject, Busuttil said Enemalta workers were facing uncertainty and liv- ing a nightmare: "Their job is no longer guaranteed and they don't know when they will be transferred. They feel betrayed by Joseph Muscat who is not keeping his promises to them." Simon Busuttil on radio