Spring hunting moratorium ‘should not save Malta from EU court action'

The European Commission can still open infringement procedures against Malta over this year’s spring hunting season, even if the government imposes a moratorium on the practice, BirdLife Europe’s director said. 

Angelo Caserta told MaltaToday that the European Commission should still investigate Malta for potentially breaching EU law by permitting hunters to gun down 5,000 turtle doves – a vulnerable species – during this year’s spring hunting season. 

“A moratorium will be a sign of goodwill, but frankly I don’t think that it will have any impact on the European Commission’s decision to open infringement procedures,” he said. 

Caserta praised European environment commissioner Karmenu Vella – who has also called for a moratorium on spring hunting – as having taken a “very balanced view on the problem”.   

“His decisions so far have respected EU law, and we trust his political and legal judgement,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s the European Commission’s decision on whether or not to open infringement procedures against Malta. If they choose not to take Malta to the EU Court of Justice, then BirdLife will have to discuss what potential action to take.”   

Karmenu Vella’s spokesperson, Enrico Brivio, refused to confirm whether the EC is considering taking Malta to court, arguing that it cannot announce news concerning infringements in advance.

He also declined to answer whether the EC is ready to drop any future infringement procedures if the Maltese government voluntarily applies a moratorium on spring hunting.

“The question concerns a hypothetical reaction of the EC to a hypothetical decision of the Maltese government and unfortunately cannot be answered,” he told MaltaToday.

The government decided to open this year’s spring hunting season, in spite of a recent report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) that shows that European turtle dove populations have plummeted by 80% in the past 30 years. The IUCN now classifies the turtle dove – one of the two huntable species in Malta’s spring season – as a vulnerable species. 

Cabinet is now discussing a recent proposal by hunting lobby FKNK to apply a moratorium on spring hunting. FKNK CEO Lino Farrugua said on Saturday that a moratorium would be the “lesser of two evils”, when compared to a potential permanent ban following EC infringements. 

He said that the FKNK would make use of a moratorium period to conduct studies that prove the insignificance of Malta’s spring hunting season on the decline of the European turtle dove.

“Around three million turtle doves are killed every year in Europe, while Maltese hunters are only allowed to kill 5,000 in spring; the percentage is less than 1% of the total number of turtle doves killed in Europe every year.” 

Caserta said that he welcomes the FKNK’s commitment to launch a sustainability study, but that BirdLife would want to conduct its own parallel studies.

“The more studies are carried out on the sustainability of a species, the better,” he said. “A moratorium could be an interesting experiment, and we hope for more informed discussions with the hunters.”

BirdLife Malta yesterday urged the government to ban spring hunting outright, rather than simply suspend it. 

“Spring hunting has an expiry date, and the government should be courageous enough to take a decision that will ultimately be supported by half the public, who had voted to ban it in last year’s referendum,” BirdLife CEO Mark Sultana told the press outside Castille.

“The FKNK fear that spring hunting is coming to an end, and they believe that a moratorium is the only way out. However, it will be a fallacy for the government to simply patch up the problem. The scientific data is out there, and it is undeniable that turtle dove populations have declined.”