The Federation for Hunting and Conservation – Malta (FKNK) will be continuing with its efforts for the reintroduction of finch trapping.

It said in a statement that last autumn was the first when Maltese trappers were not permitted to pursue the traditional socio-cultural passion of finch-capturing.

The organisation subsequently carried out a survey among its 4,000-odd licensed member-trappers and several others who had been prevented from obtaining a trapping licence because of a moratorium on the issue of new licences.

This moratorium was imposed from August 1, 2002 to December 2007.

Despite the end of such a moratorium, no licences have been issued, to-date, by the local authorities. In the survey, the federation asked the finch trappers whether they saw any alternative solution to finch-capturing that could satisfy them.

A total 1.43 per cent replied that they had lost all faith in ever again being permitted to capture finches in the traditional manner and, only for that reason, had been experimenting with alternatives, unsuccessfully.

A staggering 98.57 per cent replied they were convinced that, for them, alternatives for finch-capturing simply did not exist.

The overwhelming majority also believed that they had a civil right to continue practicing their passion, provided that the government had the political will to correctly apply a derogation from the EU ‘Birds’ Directive to permit limited finch-capturing.

The abolition of finch-capturing may have resulted in a minimal increase in finch sightings this winter, the FKNK.

It said its members reported seeing up to three linnets and eight chaffinches in an area where normally only single individuals were sighted.

This, the organisation said, was reported in the media as a 300 per cent and an 800 per cent increase, when the actual number of finches remained negligibly poor.

FKNK said this was proof, if any were needed, that the finch-capturing prohibition currently in force was merely a punitive measure misguidedly and unnecessarily taken against Maltese finch trappers.

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