Number of trapping licences halved

The number of licensed trappers has fallen by 42 per cent over the past three years, according to the findings of a bird conservation project.

In 2008 there were 4,616 licensed trappers in Malta and Gozo. Latest police figures released this month show there are currently 2,613.

The EU Life+ Project on Bird Migration and Trapping, which began in January 2009 and has now been concluded, sought to engage active trappers in dialogue with conservationists, through an active outreach programme.

The project was developed by BirdLife Malta, Media Today and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (UK), and was 50 per cent funded under the European Commission’s EU Life programme.

According to project manager Geoffrey Saliba, the decline in licenses reflected what the project’s outreach had indicated: “Many trappers have accepted the end of trapping and moved on.”

The project had led to face-to-face meetings with 411 trappers, which represented around nine per cent of Malta’s trappers.

“Several trappers have expressed an interest in alternative activities, mainly bird breeding and participating in bird shows,” Mr Saliba said.

Other trappers were interested in pursuing interests in wildlife photography or scientific bird ringing. These were not hypothetical alternative activities, Mr Saliba stressed.

Organisations and opportunities existed for current trappers to direct their passion for birds towards such activities.

The trapping of birds using nets is prohibited under the EU Birds Directive, although derogations are permissible in certain specific circumstances.

The government had negotiated a phasing-out period for the practice as part of its EU membership agreement. Following this period’s expiry in 2008, the government outlawed the trapping of finches but continued to allow the trapping of four further species of bird.

Last June the European Commission announced it had started infringement proceedings against the government concerning the trapping of these four species. In the Commission’s view, Malta’s derogation on the issue was unwarranted.

BirdLife Malta president Paul Debono quoted communication from the office of EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik confirming this.

The Federation for Hunting and Conservation disputes the Commission’s position and has made its position known in a letter to Mr Potocnik. It told him that “live bird capturing” was an indigenous custom dating back over 500 years which was handed down from generation to generation.

The FKNK also asked Mr Potocnik why he was only objecting to the derogation now, when it had been applied and justified for almost seven years.

In its hunting and trapping policy guidelines issued last month, the government banned autumn trapping pending further investigation into the criteria required for a derogation to be applied.

FKNK secretary general Lino Farrugia yesterday said that the president of the Mediterranean chapter of the Federation of European Hunting Associations, FACE-Med, had written to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

In the letter he offered the government FACE-Med’s expert advice on applying derogations “to permit live-bird capturing of huntable species this autumn/winter on the same basis as similar derogations are applied in other EU Mediterranean countries”.

Mr Saliba explained how the EU Life+ project had also involved ground and air surveys of various trapping sites across Malta and Gozo. Of the 4,787 sites surveyed, approximately one quarter were active or maintained.

He also said details of active trapping sites, including GPS locations, had been passed on to the police. A similar report would be handed to the Malta Environment and Planning Authority shortly.

Although the project coordinators had held an initial meeting with FKNK representatives, requests for further meetings had been turned down, Mr Saliba said.

Nevertheless, he said, BirdLife Malta would continue to engage hunters and trappers in dialogue and was always willing to discuss further cooperation.

In a comment on this newspaper’s website, a spokesman from St Hubert’s Hunters disputed this, saying BirdLife Malta had “infallibly refused to participate” in radio and television programmes. BirdLife Malta’s claim to openness, the spokesman said, was “as worthless as their contribution towards rational discussion”.