Update with Government statement below – BirdLife Malta is today reiterating the call made last week by CABS – the Committee Against Bird Slaughter – to close the trapping season for Golden Plover, after witnessing what it describes as “an exceptional migration of the species over the past weeks with widespread trapping activity being undertaken across the two islands, often at night, and with the illegal use of electronic callers.”

BirdLife Malta has released a video highlighting the use of electronic callers in various locations in the countryside. The NGO said that, “the video shows how the use of illegal electronic callers is rampant and unregulated.”

“Over the course of November and December, we have been receiving on a daily basis alerts by members of the public, reporting the use of electronic callers for Golden Plover during the day and night, with little or no police action taken to control them,” BirdLife said.

It added that “questions made to the Wild Birds Regulation Unit (WBRU) during an Ornis Committee meeting held last Thursday have revealed that although there has been a reported presence of 30 to 35 enforcement officers in the field during the trapping season, only 11 fines for the use of electronic callers were issued over the past 4 months of hunting and trapping. A meagre amount considering that during this period over 10,000 hunters and 4,000 trappers are active in Malta’s countryside.”

“Thanks to amendments to the Conservation of Wild Birds Regulations proposed by the WBRU in 2013, the use of electronic callers has been decriminalised, and nowadays instead of appearing in court would-be culprits only face the prospect of a €250 fine.” BirdLife added, “although this was done with the intention of making enforcement more effective, it seems that it is leading to precisely the opposite effect.”

“It has been common practice throughout the trapping season to have these callers automatically set on in the countryside at various trapping locations, with these being switched off at the slightest presence of police or members of the public who would be reporting the matter to the authorities.”

BirdLife Malta stated that during last Thursday’s Ornis Committee meeting, WBRU have also confirmed that “the quota of 700 Golden Plovers allocated for this year’s trapping season has not yet been reached, despite birdwatchers having witnessed one of the most exceptionally good years for migration of this species.”

“While the use of electronic callers is by far unregulated, these devices are very effective at attracting these birds to a trapping site, and have become part and parcel of our rural countryside”, commented BirdLife Malta’s Conservation Manager Nicholas Barbara.

“This goes against the spirit of strict supervision demanded by this derogation which should regulate each trapper to trap up to 6 birds after which trapping should be halted,” he added.

BirdLife Malta extended its appeal to the members of the public to keep reporting illegalities they witness by calling 119. “The use and locations of electronic callers should be registered via GPS locations and also reported immediately to us on info@birdlifemalta.org.”

Update – Illegal use of bird callers down by 60% over pre-2013 levels – Government

In a statement this afternoon, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights referred to the statements made by Birdlife Malta today, and by CABS last week, where the Government said, they “claimed unregulated and rampant use of illegal bird callers.

“Whilst condemning any illegal activity,” the Government said that it refutes the allegation of “unregulated rampant use of bird callers which is on the increase.”

“Contrary to these claims, illegal use of bird callers has declined by over 60% since 2012 (72 cases in 2012, 66 cases in 2013, 43 cases in 2014, 34 cases in 2015 and 29 cases in 2016).”

“Prior to the introduction of the new administrative fines system in October 2013, illegal use of bird callers was an offence that was punishable only upon court conviction. Court proceedings took many months to complete, resulting in offenders being meted out with a €232.94 fine.”

The Secretariat added that “in October 2013, the new administrative fines system was introduced and has so far proved to be incomparably more effective in addressing illegal use of bird callers.”

Under the new system, anyone caught using a bird caller is automatically fined €250 without the need for lengthy court proceedings and this fine is payable within 21 days whilst the equipment is confiscated and destroyed. “Since 2013, field enforcement has more than doubled over the 2012 levels, and therefore one cannot reasonably argue that the decrease in disclosure of illegal bird callers is due to lack of enforcement action.”

Moreover, although it is logistically difficult to locate and dismantle such illegal electronic devices at night, the authorities nonetheless do their utmost to cooperate with NGOs to locate and disarm these devices, the Secretariat said.

It added that “last year, several night patrols were conducted in the autumn, and at least on one occasion a joint patrol was held between the Malta Police and CABS volunteers that led to the location and dismantlement of 15 illicit devices.”

“Although this is very demanding on the limited enforcement resources, the Police is planning such extra night operations that will take place over the next few days during peak Golden Plover migration. These extra patrols complement routine enforcement operations that are conducted in two shifts between 0500 and 2130.”

“The assumption made by the NGOs in their statements that reports of illegal bird callers at night are somehow equated with illegal trapping at night is incorrect and in this regard a distinction needs to be made,” the Secretariat said.

“Although both are illegal, a pre-recorded bird caller at night does not automatically imply that a trapping site is active. In fact, on most occasions, illegal bird callers are well camouflaged to hamper detection and are electronically programmed to become active at specific periods of the night, usually early hours of the morning (most commonly between 02:30 and 05:00).”

According to the Secretariat, “these stationary automatic devices are mostly used to attract target huntable species to the site to enable their shooting or capture during permitted hours early in the morning. The actual incidence of physical trapping activity at night is not as widespread as is being claimed by NGOs.”

“So far, since the start of this year’s autumn season, the authorities took legal action against 29 individuals caught using bird callers (11 whilst trapping and 18 whilst hunting). Notwithstanding the considerable logistical difficulties of detecting these devices at night and apprehending individuals using them, the Maltese authorities are confident that these illegalities, which are not as widespread as claimed by the NGOs, are being gradually eradicated, through patrols, better coordination, more awareness-raising, and high penalties for abuse.”

Trapped Golden Plover in a cage (Photo by Steven Williams)

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