A crocodile skull, bears and lynx skins, a boa constrictor and shortfin mako shark jaws were among the items seized last year by the Environment and Resources Authority after being imported illegally.
The ERA admits in its 2018 annual report the trade of certain species and artefacts was a challenge.
The regulator, which carries out inspections at points of entry and departure in a bid to quell the illegal trade of such items, said 70 per cent of such operations concerned movements outside the EU.
In 2016, the government launched a crackdown on the importation of poison- ous and venomous pets as well as other dangerous animals such as cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, tigers and pumas.
The environment watchdog conducted 305 inspections in special areas of conservation. The annual report said 303 investigative cases were logged and investigated in 2018, up 180 per cent over the 168 registered the year before.
The trade of certain species and artefacts was a challenge
The regulator’s responsibilities also span environmental compliance of industrial sectors, including oil and fuel terminals, power stations, hotels, fuel stations, fish-farms and quarries, among others. It said such compliance work was based on a risk management system, which took various factors into account, apart from ad-hoc circumstances that had to be dealt with.
The ERA conducted 228 inspections on permitted facilities last year and a further 255 inspections resulted from reports or complaints. A total of 212 cases were logged and investigated, an increase from the 153 of 2017.
It also evaluated more than 90 blast monitoring reports concerning hard-stone quarries and analysed 184 reports submitted as an obligation emanating from permits it issued.
Inspections at sea on fish farms were carried out nearly on a daily basis during the summer months and early autumn, the report said.
Chairman Victor Axiak noted in the annual report that the ERA’s work continued unabated in spite of financial and other constraints.
Prof. Axiak told the Times of Malta this week the regulator faced challenges as part of its growing up process. These included budgetary constraints and human resources and, during its first three years, the watchdog went through a “phenomenal” recruitment process, he noted.