Hunters' federation presents study on trapping to Ornis Committee

The hunters' federation has presented a report on trapping to the Ornis Committee despite the unofficial end of the practice from January this year.

The federation said its document proposes satisfactory solutions for all and would allow a continuation of the tradition.

It said the report also documented how trapping was legally practised in other EU countries by people using similar methods to those employed here and for the same birds.

However, a spokesman for the European Commission had insisted that Malta's concession to keep trapping for the first few years of EU membership was only a temporary arrangement that ended in 2009, stressing that the practice is banned in the rest of the Union.

The government had said when asked to react to the Commission's comments that it has no plan to allow any bird trapping in 2009 but a spokesman would not specify whether the decision is a permanent one.

Still, informally, a senior official said the government's stand is to stick to the deal with Brussels and not allow trapping any more.

However, the Ornis Committee will evaluate the document before making its recommendation to the Prime Minister, who has to make a formal decision on the future of trapping.

The federation is also calling for a meeting with the Labour Party to discuss the report, together with another it has prepared on spring hunting.