The government expected to announce the reopening of the controversial autumn trapping season following ‘hushed’ negotiations with Brussels, the Times of Malta has learnt.

Sources close to the negotiations said the European Commission had agreed “in writing” to allow a trapping season for two species of birds: the song thrush and the golden plover.

According to the sources, trappers are likely to be told to set their nets as early as Saturday.

The trapping deal comes just four months after the European Court of Justice declared that the practice of trapping another species – protected finches – was illegal.

Shortly after the judgment, which found Malta was breaching the European Wild Birds Directive, European Commission sources had said that if Malta went ahead with opening a trapping season for any other species, it would swiftly be taken back to court.

Conservationists had warned that if the government were to open a season for song thrush and golden plover it would not be able to stop the bycatch of other protected birds.

This, they pointed out, would mean Malta would be found in breach of the ECJ ruling.

Larger gauge nets major factor in agreement

In fact, sources in Brussels have, in recent months, pointed out that the Commission could even move to apply what were known as interim measures to block Malta from declaring the trapping season open.

The sources, however, said Brussels had been receptive to lengthy meetings held since the court hearing this summer “to find a middle ground”.

Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretary Clint Camilleri, himself a hunter, led the Maltese negotiating team, the sources said, adding that government officials based in Brussels, assisted by technical experts, had also been brought in to broker the trapping derogation.

Malta has regularly applied for two separate derogations (legal exemptions) on trapping from the EU Birds Directive: one dealing with protected finches, which has now been ruled illegal, and the other on song thrush and golden plover.

Both exceptions have long been subject to European Union infringement proceedings and while the Commission took Malta to court over finch trapping, action on the other exception has since been left on the backburner.

Commission sources said Brussels had warned about infringement proceedings in connection with the derogations years ago but had decided to press ahead with court action against finch trapping as a “priority” because it affected a protected species.

The government’s consultative Ornis committee has recommended that the authorities amend regulations to forbid trapping nets with holes smaller than 45mm.

Nets traditionally used to capture protected finches normally have 30mm-wide holes and were singled out in the court ruling.

The sources said the larger gauge nets, along with pledges for increased enforcement, were major factors in reaching an agreement with Brussels.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.