Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/475084
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 MARCH 2015 8 THE perception that hunters are the natural allies of the Labour party is rooted in the party's post-1987 pan- dering to the hunting lobby which first saw Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici referring to hunting as "God's gift to the poor", and then the party under Alfred Sant signing an electoral pact with the lobby before the 1996 elec- tion. But this was not always the case. In fact the first major legislative restric- tion on hunting took place on Dom Mintoff's watch – prior to 1980, when the first comprehensive law was introduced to regulate hunting – hunters were allowed to shoot all year round and not just in autumn and spring. Moreover, prior to 1980, only 22 species of birds were protected. The 1980 regulations included two schedules (birds that could be shot and those that could be trapped), and afforded legal protection to all other species. As ornithologist Joe Sultana re- called in an interview with Mal- taToday in 2009, 1980 was quite an eventful year in the history of local bird protection. It was in that year that engineering works were started to convert Gha- dira into the first managed nature reserve, the International Council for Birds Preservation (now BirdLife international) held its 12th European conference in Malta, and new bird protection laws were enacted. "In spite of being heralded as a milestone, the laws were still inad- equate. The list of birds that could be shot still included species such as herons and the egrets, and although they introduced the concept of a close season for bird shooting, this was too short and most inadequate. The problem of lack of enforcement was still glaringly evident," Sultana said. Still, the parliamentary debate of the time suggests that back then it was the Labour government and not the Nationalist opposition, which pushed forward restrictive legisla- tion on hunting. In fact, although both sides ap- proved the bill instituting the close season, it was PN MPs like George Hyzler who cast doubts on it. Hyzler pointed out in the debate that the drop in Malta's bird popula- tion was not a result of the irrespon- sible attitude of a few hunters but the disappearance of the fairly extensive marshlands at Marsa and Salini. To this Dom Mintoff replied that ever since the government had built dams at Marsa to catch rainwater, there was always a supply of fresh water there, which could attract birds "if they are given a chance." Hyzler also claimed that he had spoken to many hunters who were apprehensive about the bill and even suggested allowing hunters to shoot at sparrows during the close season. In his reply, then Justice Minister Joe Brincat disagreed, praising the admirable qualities of this bird. Brin- cat also praised the hunters' asso- ciation and the Malta Ornithological Society for being "responsible" and appealed to them to come together and find a "happy balance". Brincat argued that if birds were destroyed there would be nothing to shoot in the future. Brincat also disagreed with a sug- gestion made by the opposition to lower the age of hunting from 21 to 18, arguing that the comparison with driving licences did not hold water. While acknowledging that hunt- ing was a hobby, he also pointed out that in other countries photography was being used to substitute hunting and that people boasted not of the birds they caught but of the pictures of birds they took from a long dis- JAMES DEBONO looks back at the origins of the hunting debate and finds that it was on Dom Mintoff's watch that a close season was introduced in 1980 for the first time ever News When Mintoff closed Both sides approved the bill about the close season, but PN MPs like George Hyzler cast doubt on it Hunters blackmail the political parties by totting up their voting strength Ornithologist Joe Sultana – the laws were still inadequate despite being heralded as a milestone