Trapping seminar irks hunters

An international seminar on bird trapping on Wednesday was being organised to "unjustly tarnish Malta and the Maltese internationally", the Federation for Hunting and Conservation said.

A Belgian ex-trapper, who shifted his hobby to captive finch breeding when Belgium banned finch trapping, will share his experience with the audience. Alternatives to bird trapping, finch migration and populations in the central Mediterranean islands, law enforcement relating to trapping and the legal situation on trapping in other EU member states would also be discussed, the seminar organisers said.

Organised by the EU LIFE+ Project on Bird Migration and Trapping, the seminar will be addressed by Bruno Massa from the University of Palermo and Patrick Wegerdt from the European Commission's Infringements Unit.

The hunters' federation said the seminar, to be held at St James Cavalier in Valletta, was part of the LIFE+ EU-funded anti-finch trapping project, the aim of which was to abolish the traditional socio-cultural passion of finch capturing, practised by thousands of Maltese.

But BirdLife Malta campaigns coordinator Geoffrey Saliba said the project did not aim to abolish finch trapping as this was already banned in Malta in line with the EU Accession Treaty agreement.

"This ban naturally created frustration among Maltese trappers as the reason behind it was not communicated to trappers by the Maltese government during the five-year phasing out period for the trapping of seven finch species," he said.

The federation said that, for the first time in the history of the Maltese Islands, the traditional socio-cultural passion of finch capturing, practised by thousands of enthusiasts, was not permitted this autumn.

It said the government took this step notwithstanding the fact that even the EU Accession Treaty specified that finch capturing could continue in a limited form after December 31, 2008 and the European Commission Representation in Malta last March publicly declared that Malta could, along with all other member states, apply a derogation to allow trapping to continue.

"Why should both the EU Commission and the government, which takes the final decision on what LIFE+ projects are selected in Malta, contribute public funds to abolish a practice the same government has opted not to allow this year anyway, despite the fact that EU regulations permit it through the application of a derogation?

"And, to add insult to injury, Malta's main negotiator over hunting and trapping in the run-up to EU membership is also involved in this campaign against trapping," it said.

The federation said that, just as it did in the case of traditional spring hunting, it would step up its efforts in favour of traditional and sustainable finch capturing.

It was aware that the government, through the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, had agreed to contribute €30,000 towards the project, on condition that trappers participated.

"As far as can be ascertained, this condition has not been met and Mepa has, therefore, refused to pay up," the hunters' federation said. For this reason, it refused an invitation to participate in the seminar.

Those interested in attending can book by calling BirdLife on 2134 7644/5.