Update with details of Legal Notice below – The Ministry for Gozo, in a statement on Monday, has said that spring hunting for Turtle-dove is now open until the 30th of April, following the Court’s rejection of an injunction request by BirdLife Malta.

The Ministry, which is also responsible for hunting, said that the Court found that the situation for Turtle-dove is still the same as that of last year and therefore it is “sustainable to hunt in a controlled way for this species.” It went on to say that, “this was an argument put forward by the Ministry for Gozo.

The Gozo Ministry stressed that “no abuse will be tolerated, even with respect to the Court’s decision.”

The season opens from the date of publication of the Legal Notice until the 30th of April, from two hours before sunrise until noon, with a national quota of 1,500 doves.

There are no individual quotas and any Turtle-doves that are hunted must be reported immediately, the Ministry said.

The Ministry also reiterated that “anyone who goes hunting and does not catch anything must report the hunting effort, as explained in the Special Licence.”

Update – Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri has said that Legal Notice 87/2023 has now been published for spring hunting of Turtle-Dove.

The Minister said that this comes after the Cabinet of Ministers approved the spring season as put forward by the Ministries for Gozo and the Environment and after the Court met the Government’s request for the refusal of the provisional prohibitory injunction,

Camilleri said that “a big thank you goes to the entire legal team of the state attorney for their impeccable work, Jonathan Attard, as well as to the director and all the WBRU employees for the technical and detailed work.”

File photo

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