Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/867386
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 AUGUST 2017 7 News PAUL COCKS THE Ornis Committee, which usually meets to discuss con- cerns and set out an enforcement plan ahead of a hunting season, has not met since May – despite the fact that this year's autumn hunting season is set to open on Friday, BirdLife Malta said yes- terday. The Ornis Committee is composed of representatives of BirdLife Malta, the Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FKNK), the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and the Wild Birds Regulation Unit. At a press conference in front of Castille in Valletta, BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said he had just presented a letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, outlining the NGO's concerns ahead of the opening of the sea- son. The autumn hunting season lasts 150 days, until 31 Janu- ary, and allows the killing of 40 species of birds, 12 of which are hunted at sea. Sultana called on the authori- ties to place environmental law enforcement as a priority dur- ing this period, in which around 10,000 hunters could be out hunting. "During the past autumns, we have received around 100 shot protected birds," he said. "This is only the tip of the iceberg rep- resenting only a small percent- age of the total number of birds which are illegally shot during the season." BirdLife Malta will be organis- ing its annual Raptor Camp in the coming weeks to monitor illegal hunting during Septem- ber and October, when birds of prey would be migrating over the Maltese islands in their hun- dreds. Forty-five minutes after Bird- Life Malta started delivering their press conference outside the Prime Minister's office, the parliamentary secretariat for an- imal rights – led by Clint Camill- eri – issued the autumn hunting season notice through the De- partment of Information "As was the case also in previ- ous years, according to Conser- vation of Wild Birds Regulations (S.L. 549.42) the hunting of birds on land shall be permitted be- tween the 1st September and the 31st January, between two hours before sunrise and two hours af- ter sunset on any day between Monday and Saturday, and be- tween two hours before sunrise and 1pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. "However the hunting of birds on land between the 15th Sep- tember and the 7th October (in- clusive of both dates) shall not be permitted from Monday to Saturday between 7 pm and two hours before sunrise of the fol- lowing day." The same time restrictions also apply to the hunting of wild rab- bit, which is permitted until De- cember 31. The hunting of birds at sea shall be permitted between the 1st October and January 31 dur- ing the same times as those ap- plicable to hunting on land, pro- vided that between October 1 and October 7, inclusive of both dates, hunting at sea shall not be permitted from Monday to Saturday between 7pm and two hours before sunrise of the fol- lowing day. Hunters can only hunt the spe- cies for which they are licensed according to their licence cat- egory. In line with the Legal Notice 69 of 2016, licensed hunters are re- quired to report the birds caught via telephone reporting system prior to leaving the hunting area in accordance with instructions as stipulated in the information booklet distributed together with hunting licences. Due to re-classification of the legal status of Red Breasted Mer- ganser (Mergus serrator) in 2016, the hunting of this species is no longer being allowed. Moreover, according to Legal Notice 77 of 2016, hunting of Turtle Doves (Streptopelia tur- tur) shall be permitted between September 1 and 30 only, subject to the maximum national quota of 7,000 birds. Targeting of the Turtle Dove outside of this period is not per- mitted. The Wild Birds Regulation Unit notes with satisfaction that exemplary improvements in compliance achieved over the past three years produced ex- tremely visible positive change that was hardly conceivable in the past. However this progress, which is a result of cooperation between the government, mem- bers of the hunting commu- nity, and bird protection NGOs, needs to be further maintained and consolidated. Whilst calling upon all hunt- ers and hunting organizations to continue to adopt a zero-toler- ance approach to illegalities, the Unit and other law enforcement entities shall continue to rigor- ously monitor and enforce com- pliance with applicable regula- tions through field surveillance, spot checks and inspections. Camilleri wished hunters a good season and urged them to observe the laws "so that hunting is after all safeguarded". Environment ministry reaction In a reaction, the ministry said that it would like to clar- ify that the board of the Ornis Committee "has already been formed and the members are being notified, before the sea- son opens". It added that the board of the Ornis committee would be presided over by retired magistrate Dennis Monte- bello, with Sergei Golovkin acting as the board's secre- tary. Members of the hunting community and NGOs will also be on the committee, it said. According to the ministry, Environment minister Jose Herrera said he would be meeting the committee in "the coming days" and that the coming season, like all others, would be regulated by the Ornis Committee. "In recent years, progress has been made. When com- pared with the level of en- forcement before 2013, the number of enforcement offi- cials has more than doubled, the number of on-site inspec- tions increased by more than four times, while the number of protected birds which have been killed or injured has also decreased significantly," read a statement. Hunting season opens on Friday but Ornis Committee has still not met BirdLife Malta presents letter to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat urging government to prioritise environmental law enforcement The autumn hunting season is open from 1 September 2017 to 31 January 2018 • It is legal to hunt for 40 species from land and 12 species at sea. All other species are protected by national and international law (Tab. 2) • Hunting of birds at sea is permitted between 1st October 2017 and 31st January 2018. • It is illegal to hunt or possess a firearm or trapping equipment in a Bird Sanctuary (Tab. 1) • It is illegal to carry a firearm between two hours before sunrise and two hours after sunset, or during any closed season • It is illegal to use electronic callers • It is illegal to hunt at sea before 1st of October and within 3km of the shoreline • It is illegal to have a shotgun capable of firing more than three shots in succession • It is illegal to hunt within 50m of a main road • It is illegal to hunt within 50m of a beach (Tab. 3) • It is illegal to hunt within 200m of a residential area (residential area = >100 people) • It is illegal to hunt under the legal age of 18 • Between 15 September 2017 and 7 October 2017 hunting is not permitted from Monday to Saturday after 7pm to two hours before sunrise of the next day • Between 8 October 2017 and 31 January 2018 hunting is not permitted from Monday to Saturday between two hours after sunset and two hours before sunrise of the following day (please check table in the next page) • On Sunday, hunting is not allowed after 1pm until two hours before sunrise of the following day.