Ornis Committee advises ban on finch trapping

The hunters and trappers federation yesterday boycotted a meeting during which the government's advisory body on hunting, the Ornis Committee, voted to ban the trapping of finches but allow it for four other bird species.

The committee meets every month and brings together representatives from various organisations interested in hunting, including BirdLife Malta and FKNK - the federation of hunters, trappers and conservationists, to put forward recommendations to the government.

BirdLife welcomed the committee's unanimous vote to ban finch trapping this autumn adding that its representative voted against the trapping of the other four species.

"Since most of the trappers in Malta target finches, this means large-scale and widespread trapping will not continue," BirdLife said.

According to BirdLife, trapping is not allowed under the Birds Directive and according to the EU Accession Treaty negotiated by Malta, a five-year phasing out period for trapping seven finch species expired last year.

BirdLife said finch trapping went against Malta's Accession Treaty negotiations, so the island was finally sending an important message to Brussels that it would honour its agreement.

"But as for the trapping of four other species, we are expecting the Office of the Prime Minister to explain to the Ornis committee how many trappers will be allowed to trap the four species and the strict conditions that would apply," a BirdLife spokesman said.

FKNK said it boycotted the meeting because it had received information from a department within the Office of the Prime Minister that the government had no intention of opening a finch trapping season from October. The federation said it would have been "pointless" to attend the meeting.

The FKNK said it had written to the Prime Minister voicing its concerns and a meeting with the Opposition Leader was expected in the coming days.

"The Maltese trapper should not be treated as a second-class European citizen. The FKNK will do its utmost to ensure this pastime, which forms an integral part of the way of life of the Maltese trapper, this traditional socio-cultural practice that dates back centuries, is not lost," federation secretary Lino Farrugia said.

The committee chose to allow the continuation of autumn trapping for four species: golden plover and song thrush between October 10 and January 10 and turtle dove and common quail between September 1 and October 31.

Ornis also agreed that the season should run for five months from September 1 to January 31 and recommended that the Office of the Prime Minister ask the police whether the afternoon hunting ban during the peak raptor migration period in September should continue.

"Our experience in the field over the last two years has shown this ban has helped the police carry out their duties much more effectively and we expect it to continue until the illegal hunting situation is brought under control," Andrè Raine, BirdLife conservation manager, said.