A finch trapping season is expected to be opened this autumn between October 20 and December 31, according to a tender for the study of migratory finches issued by the Environment Ministry. While a decision on whether a trapping season will be opened this autumn has not yet been announced, the government has issued a call for “an independent scientific study on the influx or passage of migratory finches in Malta during the 2014 autumn/winter season”.
Such studies are usually held when an exemption from EU law is applied and they coincide with the open season. A similar study is held every time government applies a derogation for spring hunting, and the study starts and ends with the season.
The government’s advisory body on hunting, the Ornis Committee, last week recommended an exemption from EU law based on a proposal that would allow the trapping of a total of 26,850 birds over two months, starting in October.
The advisory body on hunting and trapping recommended trappers be permitted to capture 5,000 chaffinch, 12,000 linnet, 800 goldfinch, 4,500 greenfinch, 500 hawfinch, 2,350 serin and 1,700 siskin, assuming the numbers are respected and no illegalities occur.
The recommendation was based on an analysis by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, which amended a set of proposals put forward by the hunters’ federation last August.
The unit falls under the Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Roderick Galdes.
Finches are protected under the Birds Directive, which prohibits songbird trapping due to the activity’s ability to decimate wild bird populations.
The Wild Birds Regulation Unit said the decision whether a trapping season will be opened this autumn is a “political decision”, but the unit had to be prepared for its implementation.
Its head, Sergei Golovkin, said the same thing happens in preparation for the spring hunting season – the tender is issued well in advance of the political decision so everything is in place if the government decides to go ahead.
“As the Wild Birds Regulation Unit we have to be prepared for every eventuality – if the government decides to go ahead, we have to make sure we can implement such a decision and the contracting process takes a number of months.
“Until now, there is no such decision. Those were the dates discussed at the Ornis Committee and it is likely those will be the dates if the season is announced,” Mr Golovkin said.
Such announcements on spring hunting usually occur close to the proposed dates, limiting the controversy surrounding decisions by the government to apply derogations for the hunting and trapping lobby.
“The tender makes it clear the award of this tender is subject to government decision to open the season for trapping of finches,” he added.
The proposed enforcement of regulations would be based on a similar system to that used for spring hunting: on-the-spot checks, SMS reporting of finches caught and listing the number of captured birds on the Carnet de Chasse.