The Committee Against Bird Slaughter ( CABS) has said that zero enforcement is fuelling “rampant illegal night trapping of plovers,” adding that the Government is “taking the EU for a ride and hoping to get away with it.”
CABS in a statement, has urged the Government to immediately close the trapping season for Golden Plovers after its teams have witnessed, what it describes as “massive abuse” in the last nights.
The NGO said that the infringements include the extensive use of illegal bird callers, night trapping outside the permitted hours, contravening the quota (reporting requirement) for trapped birds, “as well as illegal sale of wild caught Golden Plovers (Pluvieri) on the website Maltapark.com.”
CABS said that in the last weeks its office has received more than a dozen reports from members of the public complaining about loud bird callers used for illegal hunting and trapping.
These reports were confirmed by CABS teams who said that they have mapped a record number of 35 locations from where illegal bird callers for Golden Plovers can be heard.
“Nearly all of the devices are being used on registered trapping sites and can be heard from kilometres away,” CABS Wildlife Crime Officer Fiona Burrows said.
The highest densities of active sites were located on Gozo at San Lawrenz and the Ta´Cenc plateau and in Malta around Siggiewi, Delimara, St Thomas Bay, Mgarr, Bahriija, Qrendi, Rabat, Fiddien, Burmarrad, Maghtab, Safi, Zurrieq.
The NGO today also published a video documenting illegal night trapping of Golden Plovers. It said that the footage which has been filmed with a thermal imaging device shows trappers sitting in their hides and waiting for birds in the middle of the night, when all trapping and hunting is banned.
CABS Press Officer Axel Hirschfeld said, “our investigations have shown that most often the large sites are being manned 24/7 to trap a maximum number of birds. In contrast to Golden Plovers, who are most active during night hours, the ALE – the police unit responsible for enforcing trapping regulations – only works during the day.”
He argued that “this massive lack of enforcement during the peak time for plover trapping is exactly the opposite of the strict supervision promised by Malta to the European Commission to justify its controversial trapping derogation.”
The biologist pointed out that “plovers trapped outside the permitted hours are not being reported to the WBRU which is supposed to close the season when the official quota of 700 trapped birds is reached.”
“This limitation and the strict supervision are the two key conditions for a derogation under the EU´s Birds´ Directive. But instead of enforcing these regulations the government obviously has decided to take the EU for a ride and hopes to get away with it”, Hirschfeld criticised.
He went on to say that CABS has highlighted the problem of zero police control during night hours over and over again in the last years to no avail.
CABS also announced that its teams will continue to monitor plover trapping and record illegalities as well as the lack of enforcement until the closure of the season in January.
CABS concluded by saying that “the results of the investigation will be used as evidence in a complaint for an alleged breach of EU law by Malta, as well as to provide evidence for court proceedings against the owners of the trapping sites.”
File photo – video footage by CABS
1 Comment To "“Zero enforcement fuelling illegal night trapping of plovers in Gozo and Malta”"
#1 Comment By george palmer On December 22, 2019 @ 4:57 pm
Well done CABS. It is disgusting that so much illegality goes on and these vermin are protected by the government for votes. Hopefully, with a new government, this will finally end as it should have gone in the last century.