Trapping difficult but not impossible after 2008

It will be difficult - but not impossible - for the trapping of birds to be continued after 2008, a spokesman for the Environment Directorate of the European Commission told The Times.

Asked about the trapping and hunting situation in Malta in view of the recent visit to Malta by a Commission monitoring mission, the spokesman said:

"In the Accession Treaty, Malta has been granted a five-year transition period for the phasing out of trapping of seven finch species, which implies that trapping will not be permitted by December 2008 to comply with article 8 of the Birds Directive. However, the directive (article 9) does allow member states to derogate from these provisions under very restricted circumstances and conditions."

The spokesman continued: "The only minor possibility for trapping to continue would be if there is no other satisfactory solution than the capture of a very limited stock of wild birds, objectively necessary to provide a solution for this problem".

Acknowledging that the trapping of song birds is an old tradition in Malta which is difficult to change, the Commission said this however "must be brought in line with the EU (regulations)".

Until now, Maltese trappers are still able to practise trapping for a number of songbird species. These are: the goldfinch (gardell), the green finch (verdun), the chaffinch (sponsun), the linnet (Gojjin), the hawfinch (taz-zebbug), the serin (apparell) and the siskin (ekru).

Following the conclusion of Malta's accession negotiations in October 2002, the government had explained that traditional trapping will continue to be allowed provided that a number of measures are implemented by 2008.

These included a study to assess the sustainability of trapping of finches by establishing how many birds may be captured from the wild to maintain genetic diversity of the birds in captivity, that a full captive breeding system will be established and trappers will be trained on breeding, that all trapping sites will be registered and that during this period of study no new trapping licences will be issued.

With regard to hunting in spring, which is still only allowed in Malta out of all the EU countries, the Commission spokesman said:

"If the Birds Directive (article 9) allows Malta (as well as any member state) to apply derogations, the Commission will ensure that the consequences of these derogations are compatible with the directive. The Maltese have been asked to present the case for this derogation in their annual report on derogations required by the directive."

Under EU law, hunting in spring is normally prohibited to protect birds during migration. However, following the conclusion of negotiations, the Malta-EU Information Centre (MIC) had explained that during the accession negotiations Malta declared it will apply for a derogation from this part of EU law so that Maltese hunters will continue hunting in spring for turtledoves and quail.