The government has announced a special autumn live-capturing licence to registered trappers. Trapping of song thrush will be allowed between October 20 to December 31, and Golden Plover between October 20 and January 10.
Not more than 5,000 song thrush and 1,150 Golden Plover may be caught throughout the season. Not more than three birds may be caught every day by each trapper, with a season's bag limit of six birds per licence.
The government said in a statement that the licence is available for those already in possession of a valid Carnet de Chasse, and whose authorised trapping sites have registered with the police.
The derogation to allow trapping is being issued in terms of the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations.
Trappers shall only be allowed to use traditional manually operated selective clap-nets with the mesh-size of the net not less than 30mm square, operated solely by human intervention, the government said, adding that its recommendation was being made after it considered the recommendations of the Ornis Committee.
No trapping shall be allowed on Xaghri within Natura 2000 sites indicated on maps that will be published by the Environment Director.
Should trapping result in the accidental capture of any birds other than Golden Plover and Song Thrush, the trapper has to immediately release the catch into the wild.
The uptake of a season’s quota shall be monitored in real time, and a season may be terminated with immediate effect by means of a press release if the overall seasonal quota for either one or both of the species is reached at any time before the end of the season.
Licence holders will not be allowed to hold or have in their possession more than 10 birds for use as live-decoys, while at the capturing site or when travelling to or from the capturing site.
Each bird used as a live-decoy must bear a single-use ring approved and provided by the director of environment.
The regulations require that for every thousand licences issued, there shall be a minimum of seven officers and/or marshals on duty during all hours throughout the season. Officers will carry out on-the-spot checks until at least two weeks following the end of a season.
Should any police officer in the course of a spot check carried out in the field, find sufficient cause for proceedings to be taken against any person, that officer shall immediately seize from the possession of that person any equipment, weapon or ammunition used for hunting or live-capture, the Carnet de Chasse, the autumn licence and any other taking or hunting licence or permit, and any bird(s) found in possession of that person in violation of these regulations or other applicable regulations or in violation of the conditions of any licence or permit.
Any person who fails to comply with any provision of these regulations or the licence conditions shall be guilty of an offence and shall, upon conviction, be liable to the penalties established, which range from confiscation of equipment and fines, to revocation of license and even imprisonment, depending on the severity of the offence.
Under EU and national law, trapping can only be allowed under strict conditions through a limited derogation from the Birds Directive.
BIRDLIFE PROTESTS
Earlier today, BirdLife Malta in a statement slammed the government and the opposition for ‘ vying for hunters’ votes while disregarding the overwhelming majority’s disagreement with the ongoing infringements from the EU nature laws’.
The NGO said the government was seeking another derogation to allow trapping for two species, Song Thrush and Golden Plover, in the current hunting season while the Labour Party is also reportedly courting the hunting lobby and considering relaxing hunting regulations to meet hunters’ and trappers’ demands.
“Trapping is banned in the EU and Malta has already received two formal warnings from the European Commission before the possibility of being taken to the European Court of Justice,” it said.
BirdLife said that on its accession to the EU in 2004, Malta pledged to comply with the EU Birds Directive, which strictly limits the hunting of wild birds according to the conservation status of each species, this based on stringent scientific data about the population levels, trends and distribution. The Directive also specifically prohibits hunting in spring and bird trapping, due to the disproportionately high impact of these activities, which are extremely efficient means of reducing population levels.
“The EU allowed Malta a five-year grace period in which to phase out the practice of finch trapping after it joined the EU, however Malta has persisted in opening an autumn trapping season every year since 2009, which has served as a loophole to allow illegal trapping of finches and other protected species to continue.”
Joseph Mangion, BirdLife Malta President said both parties appeared to be willing to sacrifice the environment as well as risking EU sanctions in their efforts to secure a majority in the forthcoming general elections