In his letter published on November 16, Lino Farrugia of the Federation of Hunters and Conservationists (FKNK) took the police to task for carrying out their duties against illegal trappers who were breaking the law by trapping finches in the limits of Birżebbuġa on November 2.

Finch trapping is illegal and the Maltese police force is fully justified in taking action against this kind of wild life crime activity. However, what seems to have annoyed Mr Farrugia is the scale and effectiveness of the police operation on that particular day. FKNK clearly does not want the police to see illegal finch trapping as a crime and therefore cannot come to terms with the fact that the Administrative Law Enforcement section are trying to do their job as effectively as they can despite their limited resources.

FKNK has many times publicly stated that it is against illegal hunting and trapping and that it operates a zero-tolerance policy. Yet their words do not seem to match their actions as FKNK continues to fail to report illegal finch trappers to police. As the general secretary of FKNK we hope that Mr Farrugia will remind his members to respect the law rather than criticise the police for doing their job.

Mr Farrugia and the FKNK seem to think that derogations are God-given rights rather than special exemptions that can be practised under very limited conditions only if they are justified under the EU law. In a country where these song birds (finches) cannot be enjoyed by the public due to the fact that these birds are illegally trapped and put in small cages, Mr Farrugia is clutching at straws by demanding a derogation. Most of them die (as they are wild birds) and the trappers go out every migration season to catch more.

Mr Farrugia’s suggestion to the government for a so-called “correct application” of a derogation is nothing more than an attempt to circumvent the Birds directive. If this illegal activity is completely stopped in Malta, we will be able to enjoy viable populations of these birds breeding in our gardens.