BirdLife Malta has requested the European Union to “immediately suspend the finch season as Prime Minister Robert Abela sides with trappers over and above EU rule of law.”

BLM strongly condemned the government’s decision to re-open the trapping season for seven species of finches under the guise of “research.”

During a press conference held in front of Castille, BLM announced that it is calling directly the EU Commissioner for Environment, requesting the immediate suspension of the season and urging Malta to uphold EU law and respect the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ) verdict.

“The Prime Minister’s decision to re-open the season defies the clear ruling by the ECJ against Malta and shows that the PM’s interests are solely electoral rather than implementing what is right and ensuring that our country adheres to the rule of law,” BLM said.

It argued that “the Prime Minister is acting as an advocate for trappers rather than upholding EU law, while dragging the entire Cabinet and the country’s reputation with him. His defence of finch trapping does not reflect public opinion, which sees through the façade of scientific research and values environmental protection over the needless captivity of wild birds.”

BLM also insisted that “this isn’t a one-off event, we have seen how the Prime Minister chooses to be the lawyer of speculators in cabinet.”

BLM said that it is “emboldened by this decision, and we will strengthen our resolve. These are moments of unity for all those who have the environment and nature at heart. We call on youths (who have given up on local politics), environmental NGOs, resident associations, and politicians, from the Leader of the Opposition to true Labour MPs who have the courage to stand up to Robert Abela and take an unpartisan stand.”

“Yesterday’s legislation was issued just a day after the European Commission’s one-month deadline requesting details on how Malta would implement the 19th September verdict,” said BLM.

It stated that the new legislation is “merely a copy-and-paste exercise from previous years, with no meaningful changes. It permits over 3,500 trappers to catch finches under the pretext of research, while simply stating that this is the only way Malta can answer the question of where finches migrating over Malta originate from.”

“True scientific research on bird migration does not require the large-scale trapping of wild birds,” said BirdLife. “Several alternative, non-invasive methods are available to gather such data.”

It further argues that “the claim that no other satisfactory solution exists is both unfounded and misleading. The so-called “strictly supervised” measures are unlikely to prevent illegalities, as past experiences have shown that the abuse of such derogations is widespread.”

Last year, BirdLife Malta said it “observed multiple trapping sites where no finches were released back into the wild. A conservative estimate calculated that over 51,400 finches were caught and kept in captivity as a result of last year’s season. This year’s catch could potentially be even higher, with 2,851 trapping sites permitted to operate daily for two months, 235 site more than the number of finch trapping sites permitted last year.”

Photo BirdLife Malta Nicholas Barbara: Linnet in a cage

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