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.
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S Mizzi
Jan 13th 2009, 18:48
D Camilleri.
Malta already had its referendum on a Yes or No to Europe. Whoever voted at the time knew they were voting for Trapping and Spring Hunting to be retained upon membership. The Yes vote won, hence the people spoke. The people voted for the package that included the retention of Trapping and of Hunting in Spring.
I believe it is a serious issue to ask people to vote in a referendum, based on certain criteria, only to act against the very things that were guaranteed in the first place. In my personal opinion, that referendum result becomes null and void.
I only hope the ECJ realises the severity.
M. Cardona
Jan 12th 2009, 08:38
@ D Camilleri
One simple question, by your own logic doesn't it follow that freedom is the "power" to hunt as humans have since time immemorial?
@ E Camilleri
Satisfaction is subjective, and no one should ever be in a position to dictate what others are to find satisfactory or not. Unfortunately individuals like you want to dictate what one ought to find satisfactory or despicable. How does your meddling and impositions on human emotions morally compare with the eradication of a tradition fellow humans have followed with passion since the beginning of times??
Edward Camilleri
Jan 10th 2009, 22:08
The hunters' federation should get it in their head that their despecable tradition or sport is finished.
They should learn that its much more satisfactory to observe birds than sitting for hours, with tens of birds in very small cages, to catch some more.
D Camilleri
Jan 10th 2009, 22:02
why dont you call for a referendum lets see what maltese citizens really think about trapping little song birds to keep in tiny cages.
you forgot to mention that the birds might be sold at the market just to make some extra money, some are even smuggled in from abroad to sell, a lot of them die on the way,
A man who needs to trap a beatiful wild song bird to keep in a tiny cage at home, has low self esteem, cause he feels the need to possess nature to make him feel in control, he cant just admire it, it must be his and his alone.
freedom is having the power to take to the air, cross continents the same way millions and millions of generations of birds have been doing forever.
Sylvana Zarb Darmanin
Jan 10th 2009, 19:01
It is indeed disappointing to note that the servile attitude is still prevailant in certain individuals. How one accepts his co-citizens to be treated in an inferior manner to their EU counterparts is beyond comprehension.
Ms. Wood et al, you embarace me as a Maltese citizen. Sorry, the normal Maltese citizen, when not using any blinkers, does not reason the way you do. Mr MMB is correct in referring to low self esteem.
g grech
Jan 10th 2009, 18:58
Well as I see it Malta has been, like in the medievel times sold again to the E.U. we have lost
our freedom we have to do what the E.U. tells us to do,we are small ,our politicians are more happy to pose with E.U. leaders than see the needs of our country,big countries have and take what they want and when they want,we are losing everything that was Maltese tradition, and please stop celebrating Independence Day and Republic Day ,they don`t fit us anymore,we where once but not anymore,and remember THE SMALL FISH HAVE NEVER EATEN THE BIG FISH,we have no power. Our ancestors have fought great leaders to be FREE, and now with just a stroke of a pen we are classified as second class citizens, servants in our homes.
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Jan 10th 2009, 16:14
MichelleWood
You consider yourself to be a member of a superior race, a "top citizen". Far more superior than the Austrians that didn't manage to ban trapping in their country. More superior than the Italians, the French and The Spanish since they too didn't ban trapping.
Indeed it is the few "top citizens" that influenced our Government into believing it was acting rightly. But the Austrian courts (that you consider as second class) considered the rights of its citizens and overruled an unjust ban.
It's good to know you are one of these "top citizens" that find immense pleasure in stopping these people. It is also worth noting what people consider as a determining factor in order to become "top citizens". What low self esteem.
D Camilleri
Jan 10th 2009, 15:04
j schembri
maybe you should ask your budiies in FACE why they kill so many birds illegally, to eat them.
Cyprus is a member in FACE (Federation of Associations for hunting and conservation) as is the FKNK. If I were you I`d protest to my hunting federation instead of pleading to be as destructive. Weve heard these comments before, "If they do it why cant I ?" It just shows what some hunters really are.
Michelle Wood
Jan 10th 2009, 14:29
I beg to disagree ..the Austrians are the 2nd class citizens...because they cannot stop these people...
The fact that we CAN...makes us top citizens!...
Joseph Schembri
Jan 10th 2009, 13:55
And why can they hunt 750000 birds in 3 months in Cypres but not we?
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/12/19/europe/EU-Cyprus-Poaching.php
MARK MIFSUD BONNICI
Jan 10th 2009, 11:13
CAN THE EU SPOKESMAN EXPLAIN THIS:
On the 22nd March 2007 the constitutional courts in Austria ruled the federal ban on the regional tradition of bird trapping was "unconstitutional".
The bird trapping season in upper Austria begins in mid-September. The tradition dates back to medieval days, when an Archduke allowed them to trap song birds for food. this tradition was transformed into trapping song birds for fun, displaying them and keeping them over the winter for entertainment.
A federal animal welfare law that came into effect in 2005 banned the practice. Now the constitutional courts have overturned the ban. The Constitutional Court judges argued that the provincial government has explicitly allowed the bird trapping tradition. The federal government, in banning bird trapping, has therefore not respected the wishes of the provincial government. The Austrian constitution states that "the Provincial and the Federal government must respect each other, at least in cases of public interest." The court ruled that tradition is always in the public interest.
THIS EXTRACT IS TAKEN FROM:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=AUSTRIA+BIRD+TRAPPING&start=0&sa=N
AUSTRIA IS AN EU COUNTRY ITS TRAPPERS ARE ALLOWED WHAT MALTESE TRAPPERS ARE DENIED.
ARE MALTESE SECOND CLASS EU CITIZENS?