Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/476647
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2015 3 News Scientific evidence supports 'no' vote on spring hunting – SHout Two official reports released by the government disprove hunters' justifications for a spring hunting season THE SHout Spring Hunting Out campaign yesterday welcomed the publication of scientific evidence which provides support for a 'no' vote to end spring hunting. The campaign told the media the evidence comes from official reports released by the govern- ment, confirming that both quail and turtle dove numbers are at an all time low across Europe and showing that the numbers of quail migrating over Malta are actually higher in autumn than in spring, negating two common arguments for allowing spring hunting. The official report compiled by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit on the conservation status of quail and turtle dove gives the most recent data on the two species: it shows that turtle dove have even declined again in recent years. A decrease of a further 3% since 2012 brings the total reduction in their European population to 77% since 1980. Mark Sultana, SHout campaign spokesperson said "this report confirms that both quail and turtle dove are in decline across Europe, with their numbers at an all time low. It therefore doesn't make sense to shoot them in spring when they are on their way to breed, as their numbers don't get a chance to recover". Sultana added that "Malta is the only country in Europe to shoot migrating turtle dove and quail on their way to breed. Official sci- entific reports now make it clear that these species are in trouble across Europe and we need to give them a chance. There is no justifi- cation for spring hunting." A second report, with the re- sults of a government commis- sioned study on the migration of turtle dove and quail during the autumn 2014 hunting season, was published on 2 March. One of the arguments for spring shooting is that hunters claim that not enough of the birds pass over Malta in au- tumn for them to shoot at, how- ever the independent study shows that more quail actually migrate over Malta during the autumn season than in spring. Sultana said that "this scientific study concludes that the numbers of quail f lying over Malta during the autumn hunting season are actually higher than in spring, completely undermining one of the hunters' arguments for a spring hunting season." The report concluded that 45,683 quail and 7,956 turtle dove migrated over Malta during Sep- tember and October 2014, dur- ing the autumn hunting season. In spring, hunters are allowed to shoot a total of 16,000 of both species combined because they have argued that they do not have enough birds to shoot at in au- tumn. The SHout campaign were speaking ahead of a meeting of the Ornis Committee, the gov- ernment's advisory committee on birds and hunting. The com- mittee is expected to decide on whether to approve the princi- ple of opening a spring hunting season this year. The committee is under intense pressure from the pro-hunting lobby, and is ex- pected to approve the opening of a spring hunting season. Mark Sultana concluded by say- ing "we should all take note of the facts and vote NO on April 11, to bring spring hunting to an end once and for all." Pullicino Orlando accuses former Gonzi aide of lying under oath MATTHEW VELLA THE former Nationalist MP, Jeffrey Pullicino Or- lando, has accused Gor- don Pisani, former head of communications in Law- rence Gonzi's secretariat, of lying under oath dur- ing his testimony in a libel case instituted by Richard Cachia Caruana. Cachia Caruana, former- ly Malta's permanent repre- sentative to the EU, filed a defamation suit against MaltaToday managing editor Saviour Balzan over assertions he made in his newspaper column that poison-pen attacks from Malta Independent columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia on PN critics, had been guided by Cachia Caruana. "Pisani lied under oath yesterday when he alleged in court that I had asked Daphne Caruana Galizia to write an article for me before the 2008 elections. I did not know Ms Caruana Galizia at the time and I am perfectly capable of writing an article myself. I was sent to Caruana Galizia's house, accompanied by Pisani, by Richard Cachia Caruana, who insisted that I leave the matter in her hands. He told me that Caruana Galizia wrote all campaign related articles for the PN," Pullicino Orlando said. Pisani had testified in court that he had accompanied Pullicino Or- lando to Caruana Galizia's house during the 2008 election campaign, to deflect criticism by Labour leader Alfred Sant over an irregular permit issued for a discotheque on the MP's land in Mistra. Pisani claimed it was Pullicino Or- lando who wanted Caruana Galizia to ghost the article, 'Street-corner gossip', which eventually appeared in The Times. Gordon Pisani reaction In a reaction to Pullicino Orlalndo's claims, Pisani denied his allegations. "In testimony I gave to the PN's executive committee at his request and in his presence, in a statement I gave on 18 July, 2012, I explained that it was Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando who was happy at having Caruana Galizia pen the article in his name. I did this, on information he supplied on 29 February, 2008. It was Pul- licino Orlando himself who wanted somebody to ghost-write the article because he was in no state to write it. I explained that we went to Caruana Galizia's house in a car driven by one of his canvassers. Pullicino Orlando's allegation that Caruana Galizia wrote articles for the PN, is untrue." Court case Pisani on Monday confirmed hav- ing met Caruana Galizia at a meeting hosted by Richard Cachia Caruana at the Westin hotel in St Julian's, and meeting her on other occasions dur- ing the 2008 electoral campaign. "Pullicino Orlando wanted to write an article in The Times to respond to an article by Alfred Sant, but felt that he wasn't in a condition to do so. We went to Daphne Caruana Galizia to pass on the information so she could write the article for him. This was a voluntary action on his part." Pisani tried to evade the question of who suggested they go to Caruana Galizia, insisting that Pullicino Or- lando was not in a position to write it himself: "This was the only time she was asked to do so." Asked if Richard Cachia Caruana had been consulted before Caruana Galizia was contacted, he said that it "was possible," as Cachia Caruana was a member of the PN strategy group. Mark Sultana (centre) with SHout campaign officials Gordon Pisani (extreme left) with Alfred Sant (right)