The Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri, writing on social media today, has said that as the Ministry responsible for regulating hunting and trapping, he has written to ask the Ornis Committee to “discuss and advise the Government” on the application of a derogation for the “trapping of songbirds for research purposes.”

He said that this comes after analysis and legal advice taken following the judgement of the European Court of Justice concerning song bird trapping.In June 2018, the ECJ declared that, by adopting a derogation regime allowing the live-capturing of seven species of wild finches, Malta has “failed to fulfil its obligations under the European Wild Birds Directive.”

The judgement noted that “by adopting a certain derogation regime allowing the capture of seven species of wild birds, Malta has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law.” The decision could not be appealed.

The ECJ judgements said that “an EU Directive provides that Member States must take the requisite measures to establish a general system of protection for several bird species.”

“Nevertheless, Member States may derogate from that obligation where there is no other satisfactory solution, to permit, under strictly supervised conditions and on a selective basis, the capture, keeping or other judicious use of certain birds in small numbers,” said the ECJ.

The Gozo Minister has asked the Ornis Committee to look into “the possibility of a research project to start this year on seven species of songbirds.”

Camilleri, in the letter said that “this should lead, among other things, to the establishment for reference of the song bird population, with a view to applying for a another derogation in the future”

File photograph: Finch trapping – photo by BirdLife Malta

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