The next hunting season presents numerous innovations that will more or less directly affect the majority of Brescia hunters: let's try to summarize them briefly.
Mountain passes closed to hunting
It is useful to remember that law 11 February 1992 n. 157 “Regulations for the protection of homeothermic wild fauna and for hunting” and in particular article 21 paragraph 3, establishes that “Hunting is prohibited on all mountain passes affected by the migration routes of avifauna, for a distance of one thousand meters from them".
The Lombardy Region, following numerous appeals presented by Lac since 2007, and the latest sentences of the Council of State and the Milan Regional Administrative Court, had to approve a measure establishing four new border crossings.
These are: – Capovalle crossing (Brescia)
– Passada (Bergamo/Lecco)
– Crocetta Pass (Bergamo)
– Giovà Pass (Pavia)
The first consequence is that the huts located in the area of these passes will have to be removed before the start of the hunting season, the law then provides that the holders of the authorizations will be able to set up the same hides in another area, the second is that, in within a radius of 1.000 meters from them, it will be forbidden to carry out any hunting activity.
Censuses and crossings
In Lombardy, there are a total of 24 registered crossings, certainly representing a record among the regions, as if our territory were the main hub of Italian migration, a fact which does not seem to have a scientific and rational basis! Possession and use of live decoys for stalking
At the end of July meeting of the Regional Council, the amendment to article 26 of the regional law of 16 August 1993, which redefines the methods of identifying decoy birds, was approved, not without controversy. It is useful to underline a very important aspect contained in the article:
“As of the 2023/2024 hunting season, the ring, or plastic band, issued by the Lombardy Region and the Province of Sondrio for the relevant territory, is the only one to have legal value for the legitimate detention and hunting use of live decoys . Until the release of the new mark, referred to in this paragraph, for the legitimate possession and hunting use of the decoys, the immovable mark already affixed to the tarsus of the birds will be valid".
For this new method to be applied it is necessary for the offices of the Regional Department in charge to issue a specific regulation (and it will not be a simple thing!), therefore, it is reasonable to hypothesize that, for the current season, nothing will change compared to to recent years. In essence, any checks carried out by the supervisory bodies will be carried out on the current immovable and untampered rings affixed to the legs of our decoys.
It is recommended, in the event of a dispute, to fill in the part of the report in which to include your observations, especially if you believe you have undergone an irregular check, observations which will be duly evaluated in court, even on a preliminary basis.
It is possible to provide a dimensional certification of the rings, carried out by a third party with micrometric instrumentation, this is the AQM of Provaglio d'Iseo with which Arci Caccia Brescia has an agreement. The certification does not protect us from possible disputes but, at the very least, it represents a reference document that can be used in court, considering that, in the event of seizure, the references almost always disappear into thin air and cannot be subjected to verification. I remind you that anyone interested in this certification can contact the Provincial President Adriano Pizzini for information.
Regional live recall database
Since last year, following the ruling of the Council of State, the database of decoy birds of the Lombardy Region has become operational again, in which keepers are required to register the birds used for hunting purposes. The importance of entering the requested data is underlined, also because it cannot be ruled out that, in the near future, this same database could be a concrete reference for the release of the new rings/bands defined by the article of law set out above. Please remember that access to the database must be carried out by the individual hunter in possession of a Spid (digital identity), or through a delegate of his hunting association: no matter what anyone says, it is nothing complicated, filling in the fields does not require more than 5 minutes.
Use of lead ammunition in compliance with European standards
The latest news this year concerns the use of non-toxic ammunition in wetlands. With circular no. 72 of 9 February 2023 of the Ministers of the Environment and Agriculture, the criteria with which to comply with the European Directive 2021/57 of 21 January 2021 were defined. To date, Italian hunters do not know with certainty the sites where these provisions apply . We will ask the Lombardy Region for clarification and the list of areas affected by the restrictions.
Hunting calendars
Arci Caccia is part of the associations recognized at national level, it has delegations in all the regions, it has a very specific role because the objectives it aims to achieve are the protection of hunting activity for all, rejecting private hunting, it supports the framework law 157/92, which it believes should be the main reference in the drafting of hunting calendars, and furthermore we would like:
– relaunch the role of ATCs to encourage the production of quality game
– that the hunter should not be a professional, but a trained and committed citizen who makes himself available to the community in the management of health and environmental emergencies
Arci Caccia does not live by proclamations or sterile controversies but rather by proposals.
He is aware that, without giving up his own identity, this would be the moment to present a united front in the hunting world to have a greater weight in the choices and challenges that must be faced on a daily basis; Unfortunately, various reminders have always fallen on deaf ears.
Arci Caccia Lombardia actively participates with reasoned and concrete proposals, which facilitate the choices of the Region, shares them with the other associations to have a common path (although very often it does not even get a nod of feedback), as in the case of the Valichi, or of the Database and lastly the rings/bands for decoy birds. This is strange because on television programs we often hear the term "share" mentioned by those present, which is regularly forgotten the following day!
Arci Caccia offers participation, assistance, transparency, objectivity and coherence in defense of social hunting (of all hunting).
Infringement procedure by the European community
last July 27, a request for clarification was received in preparation for the opening of an infringement procedure on the following topics:
– Application of European Regulation 57/2021 on the use of lead in wetlands;
– Implementation of the Action Plan to combat poaching;
– Killing of bird species without the approval of a Management Plan and killing of other species during the review;
– The use of helicopters for the recovery of animals killed in protected areas of Piedmont;
It is clear that the topics are of primary importance for the hunting world and that we will carefully follow the evolution of the situation. But it is clear that the Government must give the answers to Brussels, not the hunters; indeed, the protagonism of a part of the hunting world in these procedures risks weakening the position of the Italian institutions, which have political and technical tools to give, for now, the necessary explanations. Woe betide you if you shift the axis of confrontation from the Government - European Commission to the Hunters - European Commission, exacerbating a conflict that is not good for anyone as you risk doing by sending documents to the Regions to teach them to do their job. We believe that there is no need to carry out useless propaganda on such delicate issues, the outcome of which could determine the future structure of hunting in Italy. We hope, however, that we can take advantage of the opportunity to clarify, once and for all, at a community level, a clear anomaly that concerns Italy and other neighboring countries: the starting dates of pre-nuptial migration (key concepts ). A situation, the current one, which may also be formally correct, but which from a substantial point of view is clearly inconsistent and unreasonable, especially also in the interests of the conservation of migratory species subject to hunting.
Calendar for the 2023-2024 season
The calendar drawn up by the Lombardy Region can be defined as satisfactory, because for the most part it refers to the principles of framework law 157/92 and adequately argues the choices that deviate from the Ispra opinion. It cannot be said that, no matter how well done, it will overcome any appeals that the usual suspects might present unscathed, but it is certainly a solid work, which, if analyzed more than superficially, could give the judge elements to reject the usual instrumental theories presented by our antagonists.
Despite the difficulties, we try to remain optimistic, which is still a characteristic that distinguishes us.
We wish all Brescia hunters that the next hunting season brings peaceful and profitable dawns