Q&A on the Spring Hunting referendum in Malta

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What is spring hunting?
Spring hunting refers to the three weeks in April when Maltese hunters are licensed to hunt with guns for two types of birds – turtle dove and quail. There are around 10,000 hunters across Malta and Gozo, who are officially allowed to shoot 11,000 turtle doves and 5,000 quail. In reality, many more birds are shot, including other types of bird that are protected by law. During this period, hunting is permitted all day, even on Sundays and public holidays.

Why is spring hunting a problem for Malta?

As well as being damaging to birds, the presence of 10,000 hunters in the countryside prevents other people from enjoying it at a very special time of year. In fact, due to our small size and high number of hunters, Malta probably has the highest densities of hunters in the world.

Families, walkers and tourists have often been intimidated by hunters on public land when trying to enjoy the countryside. School visits to the countryside have had to be abandoned because the children were being hit by pellets from gunfire.

Everyone has the right to enjoy our beautiful countryside in spring without intimidation and the sounds of gunfire.

What is the problem with spring hunting?

The birds passing over Malta in spring are on a long journey from Africa, where they spent the winter, to mainland Europe, where they willmate, lay eggs and raise young. Killing birds in spring when they are on their way to breed means that they will not be able to raise chicks, and so we will have fewer and fewer birds each year.

Scientists have identified that turtle dove and quail are both in trouble across Europe, and have included them in a list of birds of ‘conservation concern’. Turtle doves especially have suffered a 74% decline since 1980, meaning that 3 out of every 4 turtle doves have disappeared since then. Spring hunting is a further, unnecessary, pressure on these birds, denying them the chance to breed and increase in numbers again.

Is spring hunting allowed in other countries?

Spring hunting is banned under EU law. Malta is the only European country where spring hunting for Turtle Dove and Quail takes place as a leisure pursuit.

In other countries, governments may grant a limited licence to kill a specified number of birds for reasons such as essential pest control. However, this is always done after careful consideration, and never as a leisure pursuit.

Isn’t it unfair on hunters to stop spring hunting?

The referendum will not result in a total ban on hunting in Malta. It only seeks to abolish spring hunting, which scientists have identified as being the most damaging to birds.

Maltese hunters will still be able to hunt birds in autumn for five months, from September to January.
They are permitted to shoot everyday for these five months, including Sundays and Public Holidays, such as Christmas Day. During the autumn season, hunters may shoot 41 different species of birds, and in unlimited numbers. Furthermore hunters may also hunt rabbits in June, July and August.

Will stopping spring hunting really make a difference to birds?

Yes. Scientists studying the two species of birds, turtle dove and quail, that are officially huntable in Malta during spring have shown that they are in trouble and declining across Europe. Turtle doves have declined by 74% since 1980, meaning that 3 out every 4 turtle doves in Europe have been lost since that date. Spring hunting in Malta allows 11,000 turtle dove and 5,000 quail to be killed each year. Many more are actually killed, including other rare and protected species.

afb5cd032ddbd6503e462218960eeb792210429999-1366185902-516e57ae-620x348The problem with spring hunting is that these birds can then not make it back to mainland Europe to breed and raise young, wiping out the next generation. This means that the overall population of birds is not getting a chance to recover.

Furthermore, if spring hunting was stopped in Malta, we would be able to see and enjoy many more birds here on our own islands. Both turtle dove and quail have bred in Malta in the past, and may do so again if they were not hunted.

When there was no spring hunting in 2008 and 2009 (because of action taken against Malta by the European Court of Justice), we saw many birds begin to breed on our islands again, including swifts and swallows, bee- eaters and kestrels.

Quail can be bought in the supermarket, so why is not ok to hunt them?

Quail which are sold in supermarkets are bred and reared in captivity specifically for this purpose, just like chicken or beef. When buying quail from the supermarket, you are not taking a bird out from the wild, and you are not making an impact on the future of these birds in the wild.quail

Wild quail live a very different existence, flying thousands of miles from Europe to Africa and back every year just to survive and to breed. But they are in trouble across Europe and their numbers are falling. Spring hunting takes birds out from the wild which might otherwise breed and have more young to replace them.

What is an abrogative referendum?

An abrogative referendum is also known as a citizen referendum, as it is brought about by a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters to force a public vote on an existing piece of law.

To abrogate means to cancel, so the public are voting to cancel a law. In this case, people are voting to cancel the law which allows spring hunting to occur in Malta.

The result of the referendum is binding, which means that the government must abide by the outcome voted for by the majority of the public.

If the ‘no’ vote passes, will fireworks, horse racing and other hobbies be next?

As explained above, an abrogative referendum is held to cancel a particular piece of law. Because there is a specific piece of law which allows spring hunting in Malta, we can use an abrogative referendum for people to vote on the issue.

Lawyers have researched the subject, and because there is no particular law which allows past times such as fireworks, festas and horseracing, a referendum could not be called on these things. This rumour that ‘your hobbies will be next’ has been spread by the hunters to try and scare people into voting ‘yes’.However, lawyers assure us that these people should have nothing to fear.

Hunters are a minority group, shouldn’t their rights be protected?

The argument that killing birds is a right of a minority of the population is simply absurd, and an insult to those minorities in society who are struggling for their rights Big Time Texas Huntsand equality. Hunters in Malta already enjoy a 5- month hunting season in autumn for the killing of unlimited numbers of 41 species. More than half of these species regularly migrate over Malta, including Turtle Dove and Quail, which can therefore be hunted in autumn. Therefore the abolition of any spring hunting season will still leave the hunters with a hunting season in autumn when birds are less vulnerable.

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