The government said today that a report by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit showed that enforcement of hunting and trapping laws last year was a 'drastic improvement' over 2012.

According to the report, during the peak raptor migration period from September 1 until October 7, 2013, more that 95 enforcement personnel from various entities were deployed to oversee the hunting season. This was double the enforcement personnel deployed in the same period in 2012.

They carried out 4,170 field inspections, contributing around 10,000 man hours on the beat, which was 40% more than the number of hours contributed during the same period in 2012.

"This ratio of enforcement deployment, amounting to roughly one officer for every 2 km2 of Malta’s countryside is unprecedented anywhere in Europe."

During the Autumn hunting and live-capturing open seasons that collectively spanned from September 1, 2013 until January 31, 2014, the police maintained an average daily field deployment that ranged between a maximum of 14 officers and a minimum of nine officers in the field at any point in time from 5am to 9.30am.

During the 2013 autumn period a total of 7,619 field inspections and spot-checks were conducted, of which 6,902 inspections were conducted in Malta and 717 inspections took place in Gozo. They detected 85 trapping-related offences (including 29 cases of illegal finch trapping) and 73 hunting-related offences (including six cases involving shooting of protected birds) against which legal action was instituted.

According to the report, in 2013 there was an almost five-fold reduction in trapping-related offences in comparison with the same period in 2012, which gave rise to 405 illegal trapping cases, of which 137 cases involved illegal trapping of finches.

This, the government said, indicated that the considerable increase in field deployment and intensity of inspections, as well as the doubling of penalties during 2013 season has had a strong deterrent effect that resulted in a drastic reduction in trapping offences, particularly in illegal finch live-capturing.

There was also a slight reduction in hunting offences disclosed during 2013 season (73 cases) in comparison with 79 cases during the same period in 2012.

Hunting within prohibited distances and using illegal means (e.g. bird caller) were by far the most common categories of hunting-related offences. Illegal finch trapping followed by trapping using prohibited means were amongst most common types of trapping-related offences.

The number of persons apprehended and subsequently charged with trapping or hunting-related offences during 2013 season were 31 and 56 persons respectively. In comparison, legal action was taken against 170 persons for trapping illegally and 56 persons for hunting illegally during the same period during the 2012 autumn season.

In addition to inspections in the field to deter illegal hunting and trapping, 35 inspections were carried out by the Police assisted by members of the Specialist Enforcement Branch of the Wild Birds Regulation Unit in private residences or other premises. The majority of such jointly investigated cases related to suspected illegal possession and taxidermy of protected species.

During these inspections a total of 2,739 specimens were examined, of which 1,025 were seized since they were found to be of protected species. A total of 415 protected bird specimens were also found to have been illegally disposed without the necessary permits.  19 persons were apprehended possessing stuffed protected birds or dead birds held for the purposes of taxidermy or live protected birds held for illegal aviculture purposes.

See report summary on pdf below.