“Malta never negotiated the opening of a spring hunting season, as has repeatedly been alleged by the negative campaign organised by hunters,” this was said by Mark Sultana, Spring Hunting Out (SHout) campaign spokesperson.

He continued to explain that in the accession treaty in 2003, Malta committed itself to abide by the EU laws on bird protection. He quoted verbatim from the treaty:

“Malta is allowed to continue trapping of seven finch species until end 2008 under Directive 79/409/EEC on wild birds. These birds can be captured only by traditional nets known as clap-nets and exclusively for the purpose of keeping them in captivity. During the transition period, a captive breeding system will be established. This will ensure that these birds can further on be kept in aviaries and cages in line with the acquis. All other aspects of the birds directive will apply as of accession.”

“The treaty never referred to a spring hunting derogation in Malta. The law on bird protection provides member states with the possibility to derogate, but it does not mean that the derogation will be accepted. In fact when Malta applied a derogation to open spring hunting it was taken to task by the European Court of Justice and found to be in breach of the directive,” continued Mark Sultana.

He stated, “contrary to misleading claims by the ‘Iva’ campaign, spring hunting in Malta is not ‘approved by the EU’, with the European Commission’s case against Malta for illegal spring hunting remaining open.”

“Under European Law the killing of wild birds is not permitted, though some species may be hunted as long as it does not take place during the breeding or spring migration season,” said Sultana.

The SHout campaign said that at the time of EU accession in 2004, no formal agreement was made allowing Malta to continue hunting in spring, however a spring hunting season was opened each year until the European Commission intervened in 2007, taking Malta to court for “failing to provide adequate protection for birds.”

“On 10 September 2009, the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta was guilty of allowing illegal spring hunting.”

The campaign said that the court stated, “The hunting of these migratory birds takes place … before they have had a chance to reproduce. The impact on bird numbers is therefore more significant than it would be in autumn or winter, after the breeding season,” SHout said. “The court confirmed that spring hunting resulted in a mortality rate some three times higher for quails and eight times higher for turtle doves than for the autumn hunting season.”

The SHout campaign argued that Malta, “with blatant disregard for the ruling, again flouted the EU law and opened a spring hunting season, prompting the European Commission to issue another official warning. This case remains open, with the European Commission raising questions to the Maltese Government every year about spring hunting.”

Mark Sultana, Spring Hunting Out (SHout) spokesperson said in today’s statement, “this idea of spring hunting being ‘approved by the EU’ is yet another piece of misinformation from the hunters campaign designed to mislead the public. Killing birds on their way to breed is illegal under EU law, Malta was found guilty by the highest court in the European Union and a case is still open.”

He added, “Malta remains under intense scrutiny from the EU on this issue, however these proceedings can take years to be resolved. Therefore the matter is now in the hands of the Maltese public to do what is right; vote ‘no’ on 11 April and abolish spring hunting before it is too late.”

“No other country in Europe allows killing of turtle dove and quail in spring, when they are on their way to breed. The referendum is a chance for Malta to show it is a progressive European country by stopping spring hunting here too,” Mark Sultana concluded.

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