The government is not taking matters lightly when it comes to hunting, and in particular the control of illegal practices.

On the day when the dates for the autumn season were announced last week, and last Sunday too, the government made it clear that it will not tolerate any nonsense from the hunters.

In a statement last Wednesday, the government appealed to the hunters and trappers “to behave responsibly and avoid incidents such as those of last May, when protected species were killed in abundance”. That incident had led to the abrupt stopping of the hunting season, a decision that sparked great controversy but showed the government’s commitment to curb abuse.

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi took it upon himself to repeat the warning, going a step further by saying that the government expects everyone to obey the rules as “otherwise we will not be able to defend our country’s credibility” with the European Union.

The issue that has once again sparked a debate is the government’s decision to cut down on the hours of hunting in the last two weeks of September. Between 15 and 30 September, no hunting is allowed after 3pm until two hours before sunrise the next day.

The decision was taken in the light of the fact that in the last fortnight of September most birds of prey – protected species – make an appearance in the afternoons. By banning hunting after 3pm the government is trying to ensure that no hunting of protected species takes place.

The FKNK – the hunters’ and trappers’ federation – did not accept what it said was an “arbitrary and unnecessary decision”, claiming that few hunters broke the rules and that the others were being punished because of their actions. It is the same line of thought that the federation took when the spring hunting season was stopped short in May.

It accused the government of being biased in favour of BirdLife and that it could not enforce the regulations, which the federation said were observed by the great majority of the thousands of hunters and trappers.

It was to be expected that the FKNK comes up with such a reaction, especially considering that the number of hours of autumn hunting have been reduced. Its claim that most hunters obey the rules is most probably true, but at the same time the government cannot be blamed for taking precautions after what happened last May. It is up to FKNK to insist with its members – all of them – to follow the established regulations.

The Malta Labour Party has, for its part, tried to take the middle road in all this. On the one hand, it criticised the government for “not keeping its word” on the autumn hunting season, and on the other hand it accused it of not taking illegal hunting seriously. In a nutshell, the MLP does not want to irk hunters and wants to be seen as supporting their claims, while at the same time it wants better control of the situation so as not to annoy the rest of the population. The way it is behaving, the MLP is trying to gain ground on either side of the fence.

It cannot be said that the government has been lenient with hunters. It must be remembered that the punishments for illegal hunting have been made much harsher than they were in the past and it did not think it over twice last spring when hunters abused the laws and slaughtered protected species to cut the season short.

What it is doing now is remind the hunters that it means business. It is prepared to allow the hobby to continue, albeit with some reductions, but it will not accept abuse. In other words, what the government is saying is that it will not hesitate to stop the autumn hunting season if serious abuse takes place again.