Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/682623
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 MAY 2016 12 News MATTHEW AGIUS THE hunting lobby has surprising- ly asked the government to apply a moratorium on spring hunting, to protect the sustainability of their hobby. Welcoming the shock statement, BirdLife Malta welcomed the hunt- ers' change of heart but said the government "should have applied the moratorium a long time ago based on the scientific facts avail- able and should not have waited for a lobby group to pronounce itself, to take action." The hunter's U-turn comes just over a year after the pro-hunting lobby won by the slimmest of mar- gins an abrogative referendum on the abolition of spring hunting. With EU action against Malta imminent, the hunters' federa- tion, FKNK, said it doubted recent scientific findings that show that European turtle dove populations have plummeted by 80% in the past 30 years, and called on the Euro- pean Commission to "stop bullying Malta." The spring hunting season was concluded only recently in Malta – hunters can shoot down turtle doves and quails during the season. Addressing a press con- ference yesterday morn- ing, FKNK president Joe Perici Calascione was at pains to point out that the organisation needed more time to back up its position on the matter with scientific evidence. The leader of Malta's foremost hunt- ing organisation insisted that any cessation of hunting would be tem- porary. "We are informed the EU has al- ready threatened Malta with a pilot letter. If the matter goes to court and Malta loses, we will lose all der- ogations with it. The FKNK cannot dig its heels in, with this in mind." St Hubert's Hunters (KSU), which agrees with the morato- rium idea, called upon hunt- ing organisations in other EU countries to make similar ap- peals to their government to imple- m e n t measures to restrict hunting of this species to sustainable levels. The FKNK, claimed that hunt- ing had an "insignificant" role in the species' decline, going a step further by casting doubt on the sci- entific data. "We absolutely don't accept that the turtle dove is an endangered species," FKNK chief executive Lino Farrugia told the press conference at the federation's headquarters. He explained that the classification of the turtle dove as a vulnerable species came right after last year's spring hunting referen- dum and this "raises many doubts." Farrugia suggested that the Inter- national Union for the Conserva- tion of Nature (IUCN) had kept the data in reserve to use as ammuni- tion in case the spring hunting ref- erendum was lost. The IUCN has urged the Europe- an Commission to request the ban of Malta's spring hunting season so as to protect the turtle dove. "Research is still ongoing as to why the turtle dove is declining faster than other migratory bird species, but there is already evidence which links the serious fall in numbers to agricultural intensification, dis- eases and over-hunting," the IUCN wrote in a letter to European envi- ronment commissioner Karmenu Vella. "Until further research can be car- ried out to understand these threats and there is proof that can clearly demonstrate that spring hunting is sustainable, we consider the prac- tice to be questionable." However, Farrugia urged the Eu- ropean Commission to stop using "bullying tactics" against Malta, the EU's smallest member. He accused BirdLife, Alternat- tiva Demokratika, the independent press, the Church and retired judge Giovanni Bonello of "conspiring" to ban spring hunting ahead of the referendum. In particular, he lashed out at judge Bonello for hav- ing described hunters as "Neander- thals" during last year's referendum campaign. "But in spite of all this, righteous- ness prevailed and we won the ref- erendum," said Farrugia. BirdLife questions U-turn While saying that FKNK's U-turn should see further cooperation be- tween hunters and environmen- talists, BirdLife Malta questioned what made FKNK adopt this stance, especially when the hunters' feder- ation indicated that the European Commission already sent the first warning to the Maltese Govern- ment, implying that this could be the first of a series of actions lead- ing to another court case for spring hunting to be abolished completely once and for all. "BirdLife Malta has for a long time been insisting that the case against spring hunting remains one based on a single crucial principle – that in spring, the healthiest birds would be migrating north towards their breeding grounds." Noting that IUCN's reports have not been contested BirdLife said it now expects the Government and the European Commission to listen to scientific facts and take action accordingly. "The fact that the Turtle Dove's status has been changed because its population has declined consid- erably and is today in a vulnerable situation is not denied by anyone. Except, that is, for FKNK," BirdLife added. OPEN DAY CELEBRATING THE 6 TH ANNIVERSARY SUNDAY 29 th MAY 2016 • FROM 10:00 TILL 20:30 FREE ENTRANCE • PALUMBO MALTA SHIPYARD, GHAJN DWIELI FROM 10:00 TILL 20:30 PALUMBO MALTA SHIPYARD, GHAJN DWIELI PALUMBO MALTA SHIPYARD, GHAJN DWIELI Free tours around the shipyard. Family entertainment throughout the day. Free rides, Face painting and much more. THE MALTA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA IRA LOSCO • JOSEPH CALLEJA MALTA SHIPYARD LTD FROM 18:00 Hunting lobby proposes moratorium on spring hunting as EU action looms FKNK president Joe Perici Calascione (fifth from left) and chief executive Lino Farrugia (fourth from right) addressing the press conference