Spring hunting out (SHout) spokesman Mark Sultana tonight poured cold water over the ‘yes’ camp’s talk of the right to spring hunting.

“Going out with a loaded shotgun is not a right but a privilege. The country is giving the right to hunters to go and kill a bird...

“In Malta we open a season for 10,000 hunters, just for their pleasure...the few birds that we see we kill. There is only a limited amount of countryside, and the Maltese should be allowed to enjoy it,” he said during a televised debate.

Mr Sultana argued that a ‘no’ vote in the 11 April referendum will allow people to distance themselves from spring hunting.

“It is not wrong to feel emotion about the matter. Use this emotion on 11 April. Understand that you do not have to take part in the killing of birds or feel threatened when going into the countryside.”

History has shown that it is not only turtle doves and quail that fall prey to hunters, as flamingos, white storks and black storks are among the species that have been killed by Maltese hunters, he said.

He argued that it makes absolutely no sense to kill birds from a conservation point of view, irrespective of their population size.

“You can either give a bird a chance to breed or kill it,” he said.

SHout spokeswoman Moira Delia quoted Judge Giovanni Bonello in saying that other hobbies will in no way be threatened by the 11 April referendum.

She said the birds flying over Malta during spring would have migrated from Africa, and only the strongest birds make it.

Before they have the chance to mate, the strongest birds are being killed, he said.

Lawyer Kathleen Grima, representing the ‘yes’ camp, argued that Malta is doing nothing wrong by allowing a spring hunt.

Dr Grima argued that if Malta was in breach of the derogation it applies, the EU would stop the hunt.

She called it a “black on white right,” saying that Malta is not doing anything extraordinary in this regard.

While noting her respect for Judge Giovanni Bonello, Dr Grima said that lawyers rarely agree and “just because Judge Bonello said it does not mean that it is 100 per cent right.”

“From my research it shows that other hobbies may be attacked through the referendum act,” she said.

She said hunters are being subjected to a collective punishment due to a few law breakers.

Also representing the ‘yes’ camp, Mark Mifsud Bonnici said the derogation applied by Malta is sustainable and accepted by the EU.

He too warned that other hobbies may be next if the 11 April referendum goes against hunters.

Hunters are subjected to strict controls by the police, he said, and all hunters want is to enjoy the same rights as other Europeans.