Raphael Vassallo
The number of Maltese trappers licensed to trap four “specialist” types of game bird – namely the Turtle Dove, Quail, Song Thrush and Golden Plover – has more than doubled from 500 to 1,266 in the past 12 months alone... despite the fact that no new licences have actually been issued by the police this year.
It sounds like an unlikely conjuror’s trick, but at the same time the explanation is fairly simple. On 18 August, the government issued a legal notice amending the trapping regulations in view of a derogation it plans to obtain from the European Wild Birds Directive in order to permit the trapping of the above four species.
Malta’s traditional pastime of finch trapping was formally phased out last December, despite repeat assurances by government exponents that ‘trapping will continue after 2008’.
Until last year, there were around 4,200 licensed trappers in Malta and Gozo... but according to statistics released by the Federation of Hunters, Trappers and Conservationists (FKNK), only around 500 of these were licensed to trap the abovementioned four species.
The rest were permitted until 31 December 2008 to trap seven species of wild finch – the most popular arguably being the Greenfinch and Goldfinch. But when the government issued a call for trappers to renew their licenses ahead of this year’s season, the number to turn up at various police stations amounted to 1,266: more than double the original amount.
This figure was released this week by the Police’s Community and Media Relations unit (CMRU), five weeks after the original questions were sent by our Wednesday edition, and only a few weeks before the end of the turtle dove and quail season.
According to an earlier reply sent by the CMRU last Tuesday, the number of trappers was reported to be “zero”.
It turned out however that the question was misinterpreted to refer to “new” licenses, at a time when the police technically cannot issue new licenses.
However, it seems that the government has hit upon a roundabout way to issue new licenses anyway... by only issuing licences for the four specialist species, but not for wild finches.
Asked specifically whether this latest derogation will translate into the illegal continuation of finch trapping in Malta, FKNK secretary Lino Farrugia explained that many disillusioned trappers are willing to trap other species to compensate for the loss of their traditional quarry.
“Most of the licence-holders would be finch trappers, yes; but it doesn’t follow that they want to use their licences to continue trapping finches. Many of them reason like this: if we can’t trap finches anymore, at least we now have another form of trapping to practice...”
Farrugia also argues that the new licence conditions make it “easier said than done” for trappers to exploit any loopholes.
“The same legal notice also issued new regulations which make it difficult, if not impossible, to illegally trap finches. The minimum net mesh-size is now 30cm: large enough for a small bird to escape. Besides, you need a live decoy to trap a finch... or an electronic recording. Both are now illegal.”
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