The autumn trapping season opens tomorrow, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Animal Rights said today.

It said that upon considering the recommendations of the Malta Ornis Committee as well as the applicable legal, technical and scientific parameters, the live-capturing (trapping) season for seven species of finches as well as for golden plover and song thrush will be open between tomorrow and December 31, both dates included.

During this period, only live-capturers licensed with a special autumn live-capturing license issued by the Wild Birds Regulation Unit in respect of these derogations would be permitted to practice live-capturing activities within the registered sites and subject to the strict conditions and parameters stipulated in their respective licences.

The overall national bag limit for finches has remained the same as last year, at 12,000 for linnet, 800 for goldfinch, 4,500 for greenfinch, 2,350 for siskin, 500 for hawfinch, 5,000 for chaffinch and 2,350 for serin as the total number of birds which may be captured under the authority of all issued licences taken together. Individual licensed live-capturers have an individual season’s bag limit of 10 finches.

The overall national bag limit for golden plover has been set at 700, whilst the national bag limit for song thrush is 5,000. The season’s individual bag limit for golden plover and song thrush will not apply to this year’s season.

The secretariat said that the uptake of the applicable individual and national bag limits will be monitored in real time through a telephonic reporting system.

Live-capturers are legally bound to immediately report their catches through a telephone system on the number stipulated in their licence. Compliance and adherence to licence conditions, the secretariat said, would be rigorously monitored and enforced through spot-checks and inspections conducted by law enforcement officers.