Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/950286
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH 2018 News 3 YANNICK PACE THE 2018 spring hunting season will be open for quail only between Sunday 1 April and Saturday 21 April, the environment ministry said yesterday afternoon. Last month, the Ornis Committee recom- mended a spring hunt- ing season between 5 April and 25 April, a decision described by the BirdLife Malta as the government "bending over backward" to accom- modate the hunting lobby. The recommended season coin- cides with peak migration of turtle dove – a protected species. Last year's season was between 25 March and 14 April. Addressing a press conference last week, BirdLife Malta officials said they were sure the Ornis' rec- ommendation would be approved, given that political considerations were being prioritised as opposed to scientific facts. In a statement published yester- day afternoon the ministry said the season would be open from two hours before sunrise until noon, and that only those issued a Special Spring Hunting Licence for 2018 would be permitted to hunt for quail. "The national hunting bag limit for this season has been estab- lished at 5,000 quails. Hunters are not to exceed the daily bag limit of five quails and a sea- sonal bag limit of 10 quails per hunter. They will be required to report their catch by calling the telephone number specified in the special licence and follow instructions given through voice prompts," the ministry said. Furthermore, the government re- minded hunters that a morato- rium prohibiting hunting of turtle dove in spring was "still in place". "Any shooting of turtle doves or any species other than quail is strictly prohibited and anyone caught breaking the law will be subject to criminal procedures and high penalties," it said. "The limited spring hunting season will be subject to stringent enforce- ment, including spot-checks. Any non-compliance with applicable conditions and regulations will not be tolerated." Gamble not worth taking In a reaction, BirdLife Malta de- scribed the decision as a "gamble not worth taking". "The extension until the 21st of April will leave the Turtle Dove as a protected species at enormous risk. The Government has ignored the suggestion of its own agency – the Environment & Resources Au- thority (ERA) – which suggested the 15th of March to the 4th of April for the limited shooting of Quail," said the eNGO. "The Government is aware that without proper enforcement across Malta and Gozo, it is opening itself to infringements procedures from the EU Commission." Moreover, BirdLife Malta said that hunters in Malta had already been seen clearing their hunting hides, which it said cannot be used for Quail hunting, but were specifi- cally used for Turtle Dove hunting. "Furthermore, to add insult to injury, trapping sites have been revisited by trappers for the spring migration of finches even though this has been illegal for years. The Government has an obligation to the wider public when it comes to environmental protection in the country – while it states it will not tolerate any illegalities, when push comes to shove it knows that en- forcement across Malta and Gozo is limited and difficult," BirdLife said. BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sul- tana said that the eNGO had tried its best at being constructive with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and parliamentary secretary Clint Camilleri. It said it would closely monitor the hunting season for potential illegalities. Jose Herrera opts for four-day 'compromise' on spring hunting Hunters are only permitted to hunt for quail during the hunting season KURT SANSONE ADRIAN Delia's trust rat- ing continues to suffer but a glimmer of hope did emerge in Gozo for the Na- tionalist Party leader in the last MaltaToday survey. While Delia continues to trail Prime Minister Jo- seph Muscat by a massive margin across all regions, the sister island bucked the trend. In Gozo, Delia registered his highest trust rating, which at 33.5% was higher than Muscat's (29.1%). The survey published last Sunday was held in the last week of February and the result in Gozo represents a massive uptick for Delia. In the previous month's survey, Delia could only muster a trust rating of 9.2%, against Muscat's 43.7% in Gozo. The 24-point increase begs the question as to what may have happened to justify this massive im- provement. Delia's jump came at Muscat's expense and a drastic reduction in uncertain voters. It is pertinent to note that between the two surveys, Delia reshuffled his shadow Cabinet and retained failed leadership contender Chris Said as spokesperson for Gozo, giving him the ad- ditional duty of shadowing constitutional reform. Said went on to address a Sunday political meet- ing during which he also embraced Delia. The move was interpreted by political observers as a rapproche- ment between the two men. While Delia faces big trust issues nationwide, his problems in Gozo were accentuated by the fallout from the bruising leader- ship race with Said. After Said lost the leader- ship to Delia last Septem- ber, no Gozitan contested for a post on the PN ex- ecutive and the situation in the sister island remained somewhat hostile to the new leader. However, it appears that PN voters in Gozo have picked up the signals of rapprochement and are warming up to Delia. Whether this represents a trend still has to be seen but the improvement in Gozo is but a glimmer of hope within the overall picture that sees Delia's trust rating trailing that of the Prime Minister by 33 points. The PN leader's perfor- mance is hindered by his party's own supporters. Of those who say they will vote PN if an election is held to- morrow, 26.8% trust none of the two major leaders. Delia's trust rating among PN voters at 66.3%, con- trasts with Muscat's trust rating among those who will vote PL (91.1%). And among those who voted PN in the last elec- tion, Delia only manages to gain the trust of 48.3%. This suggests there might be a different electoral base forming around the PN that is, however, still a long way off from posing a cred- ible electoral challenge to the Labour Party. Gozo is Delia's only glimmer of hope MALTATODAY SURVEY