Trappers have received the required rings for the next autumn season, which they expect to open in a week’s time even though the government has made no announcement to that effect.
The season usually opens around October 20, coinciding with the peak in bird migration lasting until mid-November. The rings are the last step in the process, after their licences have been processed and trapping sites mapped.
While trappers feel all is in place for the finch trapping season to start, there is also a degree of hesitation, since there is still no sign of the official announcement.
The European Commission does not ban trapping
The government has so far only said it was evaluating the legal consequences of opening the autumn finch trapping season again this year after the Commission’s referral to the European Court of Justice.
Malta could face punitive fines for the launch of the finch trapping season last year.
Read more in the Times of Malta.