Internationally-acclaimed Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja has publicly come out against hunting in spring, declaring it to be no longer tenable.

In an article published on his personal website, Mr Calleja did emphasise, however, that the extent of illegal hunting in Malta has been exaggerated overseas, to the detriment of Malta's reputation.

"There is of course a degree of illegal hunting in Malta, just like in any other country in the world where hunting takes place. This is deplorable and the perpetrators should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but to say that we somehow effect worldwide bird population or that millions of bird killings takes place in Malta is not only hyperbole and preposterous but it is a downright lie," Mr Calleja wrote.

He argued that Malta's small size made it ideal to monitor and document illegalities, in contrast with larger countries with vast hunting grounds away from it all.

"Of course the majority of hunters are law abiding citizens and a lot of unfair reputational damage has been done to the Maltese islands internationally by overzealous individuals and organisations who, quite frankly, should know better," Mr Calleja maintained.

However, he then stressed that he was neither defending illegal hunting nor hunting in spring.

"I think that spring hunting in Malta is no longer tenable but not because of pseudo massacres but because of something simpler; space or lack thereof. Malta's overdevelopment has done exponentially more harm to birds and nature in general than any hunting whether illegal or not," Mr Calleja wrote.

He also pointed out that the two legally huntable species - quail and turtledove - do not fly over Malta in the numbers that they used to, while an increase has been recorded in other migratory species that "are just a joy to watch in spring."

"Quite frankly we could make it just a tad easier for these birds without them having to deal with lead flying around and loud bangs around their roosting areas. Let's remember that spring hunting in Malta became a tradition when the amounts of quail and turtle doves was simply gargantuan and when Malta enjoyed much larger rural areas with a smaller population. This is no longer the case and perhaps those defending the tradition of spring hunting need to come to terms with the changes that took place over the years," Mr Calleja said.

His statement was welcomed by the Spring Hunting Out (SHout) campaign, with campaign coordinator Romina Tolu describing it as a "thoughtful and considered opinion" from "one of Malta's most well-known and respected talents."

"Joseph Calleja's post shows that this issue is bringing together many people who might have differing opinions on other matters, but who all agree that it is time to vote 'no' to spring hunting in Malta," Ms Tolu maintained.