Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/926403
maltatoday SUNDAY 14 JANUARY 2018 Interview 15 With both political parties eagerly courting the hunters' vote, it seems to be boom time for hunting and trapping in Malta. The latest political concession concerns the re-opening of a supposedly phased-out trapping season, in apparent defiance of European law. But FKNK president JOE PERICI CALASCIONE argues that all his association wants is a fair deal for hunters own long-term interest to ensure replenishment of the species? What you have to look at is pro- portions. The turtle-dove is a spe- cies that has declined in recent years. There are many reasons for the decline, and hunting is the least of them. Ten other countries in the EU also shoot turtle-dove... ... in spring? No, in autumn. We are the only country that shoots turtle-dove in spring. This is because it was prov- en that autumn was not a satisfac- tory alternative for us... With all due respect, the survival of the species is more important than whether Maltese hunters are satisfied with their autumn season... Understand that it is more im- portant to us. Because if we shoot everything, there'll be nothing left to shoot. We're not that stupid. But look at the numbers. We have a maximum bag-count of 5,000 in spring, and 7,000 in autumn. I can tell you that neither benchmark was ever reached, or even come close to. But those other 10 countries, in autumn, shoot over three mil- lion turtle-dove. Now: we are aware that we can only apply this deroga- tion because of its 'limited scope'. We can never dream of going back to the days when the whole year was one continuous season. Those days are over we know that. But at least, if we know that the 5,000 we are taking in spring – and which we don't even take: it's more like 3000 or 4000 – will not have an effect on the conservation status of the spe- cies... while three million are shot in Europe... But we're not talking only about a threat to the global population of turtle-dove. The local population is in decline, too. In the past, the spring and autumn migration figures were infinitely higher than they are today. Isn't that because the species is targeted during the breeding season? It is true that they [turtle-dove] have declined over the years. But then you have to look at the use of pesticides... the destruction of their habitat in the countries where they breed... these are the real problems. Because of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy... through which we get the same shape and colour of tomato, eve- rywhere... and then you eat them, and they taste like nothing... but to grow those tasteless tomatoes in such enormous quantities, they've destroyed entire habitats... hedges; pockets of land where the turtle- dove used to breed... OK, but if those problems exist... aren't we just adding to them by allowing the same species to be shot in spring? In fact, we have also embarked on a project that... because we can- not reverse the major contributors to the decline: these birds don't breed here, there is nothing we can do about the loss of habitat in other parts of Europe. So the only thing we could think of – which was discussed even at European level – was re-introduction. We have a strain of turtle-dove that has been coming to Malta for generations; and we are buying turtle-doves from breeders and releasing them into the wild. This is the second year now. Obviously, we do this after the season closes... so that there won't be any misun- derstandings, along the lines that we're only releasing them to shoot them... even though to be honest, I wouldn't even blame them: many hunters will not have seen a single specimen throughout the season. That's entirely the point of the anti-spring hunting argument. If you shoot them in spring, you can't expect them to return in greater numbers in autumn. If I really believed that shoot- ing turtle-dove in spring was in any way negatively affecting the conservation status of the species, I would be the first one to say, 'I am not going out anymore'... of my own free will, regardless of any governmental laws. But I don't be- lieve it... Meanwhile, Malta is now permitting a trapping season for finches... when this is specifically prohibited by European law. Wasn't trapping meant to be phased out after membership? The Acquis Comunautaire has been subject to various interpreta- tions, some of which are conflict- ing. We were told, for instance, that there was meant to be a phas- ing out of trapping by 2008. But that's not what the Acquis actually says. It says that, until 2008, gov- ernment should implement a cap- tive breeding project, which would establish the number of specimens that could be taken from the wild, to sustain genetic diversity of the species. So it WAS envisaged that trapping would continue... but in a reduced manner. Every year, as Ornis Committee members we put forward a proposal to apply a dero- gation for the live capture of seven species of finches. Every year, we were outvoted. This year, however, the Labour Party said that if there was a way to derogate correctly, we would go for it. The Ornis Com- mittee accepted to recommend to government to apply a derogation. In the meantime, there was the creation of the Wild Birds Unit. This had a massive task: Malta was failing to keep its commitments in terms of timely reporting on vari- ous sectors of the Environmental Chapter. The scientific language was lacking. Since the creation of the WBU, all this has changed. We are now one of the top two EU members states in terms of regu- lation, and transposition of Euro- pean law... That all sounds well on paper, but any country that applies a derogation must later justify it with the Commission. Malta has unilaterally decided to open an illegal trapping season... and there may be consequences. The way I see it is: we applied a derogation, and we believe it to be correct. And it is correct... it falls completely within the parameters of the European Wild Birds Direc- tive. But more importantly, we also believe that things like this should be treasured, not eradicated. too far?