Trappers renewing licence under protest

Trappers of quail, turtle doves, song thrushes and golden plovers are renewing their licences under protest, the hunters' federation said.

It put the blame on the fact that the carnet de chasse - the form sent to hunters and trappers for the annual census of birds hunted or taken from the wild - did not include the four species in question.

Trapping for these species takes place in several EU member states and trappers deserve the same rights as citizens in the rest of Europe, the federation argued.

A spokesman for the Environment Ministry explained that the four species were not listed because they could not be trapped according to Legal Notice 79 of 2006. Trappers, the ministry said, did not accept these regulations.

The federation insisted that Environment Minister George Pullicino should order the Ornis committee to send another carnet de chasse for the trapping of the four species to all licensed trappers.

Now that a general election was approaching the federation warned the Nationalist government to refrain from making any promises it could not keep.