Sources within the Federation of Hunters, Trappers and Conservationists (FKNK) said that the meeting may result in imminent changes to the autumn season, which traditionally starts on 1 September. However, they would not elaborate further.

For his part, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino addressed the committee prior to the meeting, stressing the importance of re-establishing the dates of the autumn hunting season, which has been temporarily suspended ever since the hunting laws were changed last March.

Birdlife Malta’s representative on ORNIS, Joseph Mangion, confirmed that at present, bird hunting is not permitted by law at any time of the year, until the hunting seasons are re-established by the government after consultation with ORNIS.

The reason for this was legal notice 41 of 2003, which amended the Protection of Birds and Wild Rabbits Regulations to reflect the outcome of EU accession negotiations, including, among other “concessions”, the trapping of finches in spring, the hunting and trapping of quail and turtledove between March and May, and hunting at sea during the pre-breeding return migration period.

In July last year, Birdlife Malta lodged a formal complaint against these changes with the European Commission, which in turn initiated an investigation into Maltese hunting practices earlier this year. Faced with the prospect of possible infringement procedures, the government amended the existing law in March this year by means of legal notice 79, which involved the temporary removal of all references to hunting and trapping seasons, until the newly established ORNIS committee could agree upon dates which are acceptable to all parties concerned.

At present, therefore, all forms of hunting and trapping have been temporarily given the red light, with the exception of the rabbit hunting season, which remains unchanged from June to December.

Wednesday’s meeting was the first in a series intended to reach a compromise between the interested NGOs. While reluctant to comment on the details of the meeting, Mr Mangion hinted strongly that some form of preliminary decision has already been reached, and will be announced shortly.

However, while a decision on autumn hunting may be in the offing, the bone of contention is likely to remain Malta’s controversial spring hunting season, which will be discussed separately by the committee in the future, as well as trapping, which according to EU sources must be phased out completely by 2009.

During the meeting, Mr Mangion also emphasised the urgent need for an improvement in law enforcement, noting that this had deteriorated since last year.