The government has been harshly criticised for opening the controversial bird trapping season today.

The Committee Against Bird Slaughter said this was an issue which landed Malta before the EU courts where it is accused of not respecting it obligations under the EU's Birds Directive.

“It seems that this government is willing to let Malta pay a high price to please a small group of trappers whose selfish hobby has destroyed bird populations, the Maltese countryside and Malta's reputation abroad,” CABS president Heinz Schwarze said.

The ornithologist also slammed the governments’ Wild Bird Regulation Unit (WBRU) and Parliamentary Secretary for Animal Rights Clint Camillieri for falsely claiming that trapping is being "rigorously monitored".

“The opposite is the case with more than 50 cases of illegal trapping reported by CABS this year alone, with the police reacting too late to reports and a blooming and a totally uncontrolled black market for wild-caught birds”, Schwarze stated.

CABS especially criticised the police and WBRU for not doing anything to prevent the illegal mass-sale of wild birds on the Sunday market in Floriana which is being held every week close to the Porte des Bombes (Bieb il-Bombi) and which CABS describe as one of the central hubs for the illegal bird trade on Malta.

It said that despite hundreds of finches and other European birds are being offered for sale no proper inspections of this market have been carried out in the last years.