A man was arrested yesterday after he was caught red-handed manning an illegal trapping site and holding dozens of illegal bird species at Fomm ir-Riħ.

Police were tipped off and went on site, near Baħrija at around 11am, where they discovered around 100 birds used as decoys to attract wild species to the site. About 40 of the birds are protected species: stilts, sandpipers and shanks.

The Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) confirmed the arrest and said the site is about 2,000 square metres in size and is located in an area close to the Tas-Santi hamlet, between Baħrija and Ġnejna.

When Malta joined the EU it agreed to gradually phase out trapping for seven finch species over a five-year period. The phasing out period ended in December 2008 and as of 2009 the government has stopped finch trapping in line with Malta’s EU Accession Treaty agreement. But the new Labour administration has decided to allow the capture of finches from October 20.

In the meantime, however, illegalities in this area have continued. Two weeks ago, the Committee Against Bird Slaughter reported a number of men who were selling greenfinches illegally in Rabat, 50 metres from the police station.

The WBRU also confirmed it had seized a number of finches that were imported illegally. Currently, there is huge demand for finches to be used as decoys and so the market has seen a surge of such illegally kept birds. The unit said it had seized six finches on Sunday from a Floriana flea market, while another 100 were seized from premises in Għaxaq last Thursday.